Indiana Jones' Family Matters
by Writer for Fun
Summary: Indy and Marion are just married and he's now embarking on the most difficult journey of his life: parenthood. Will he survive? Warnings for language and spanking of a teen. Heed the warning and be forewarned if it ain't your thing.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes and Disclaimer: Much as I would love to, I don't own Indiana, Mutt or Marion Jones. The story is set in a somewhat alternate universe. It's 1957 and Mutt is sixteen, so he wasn't born until 1941, after the events in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. **

**Warnings: There is a some moderate language and one scene of a non-sexual parental spanking. If that's not your thing or if it upsets your sensibilities, please don't read further or skip over that part. It's nothing gaphic and I make no personal opinion about the spanking of children.**

* * *

Henry "Mutt" Jones stood at the door of the new home that he and his parents were moving into. It was a university owned home and, as his father declared, much more suitable for a family to live in. Yeah right, like they were a real family or something. Ever since _Indiana_ Jones found out about them, all he did was crack on Mutt as if he had the right. He didn't, Mutt decided, and he'd be damned if he was going to roll over and play daddy's boy for him.

Indy was pulling their bags out of the trunk of his new burgundy Hudson Hornet and whistled to get his son's attention. "Hey, Junior, how about making yourself useful and grab a bag? It's just a house, you know. I'm not sending you to your doom."

"Yeah right, Pops," the sixteen year old grumbled, grabbing a bag. "It's like hell in the form of suburbia."

"Get moving, Wise Guy," Indy sighed. He didn't have any idea how to get through to the boy and that he only wanted what was truly best for him. At times, he felt a bit angry that Marion never told him but he also understood that she'd been angry, hurt and betrayed by him. While he could spend an eternity regretting the past, Indy decided that he would be the best possible father and husband that he could now.

The boy rolled his eyes before heading into the house where his mother was checking out the kitchen. She stepped out and waved Indy over. "Um, Jones, there's something you need to see in here," she said, which garnered Mutt's attention as he craned his neck to look in. There was a blonde standing by the door that looked about the same age as Mutt, holding a bundle of laundry. She gave Mutt a modest looking over.

Indy stuck his head in and gave the girl a semi-smile. "Susan, why aren't you at school?" he asked which got both Marion and Mutt's attention.

"You know her?" Mutt asked.

"No, I just guessed," Indy replied, smacking his son in the back of the head. "Susan and her parents used to be my neighbors."

"Watch the hair, Old Man," Mutt said, giving his father a death glare.

Indy then returned his attention to the young visitor. "So what are you doing here?"

"You left before your shirts were ready last time," the girl replied, offering the wrapped package of laundry which Marion took. "I thought I'd better deliver them before you dashed off again."

"No more dashing for me, Kid. What do I owe you?" Indy asked pulling out his wallet.

"Three dollars and seventy-five cents," Susan replied, looking embarrassed and flushed at Marion and Mutt. Indy handed her four dollars.

"Twenty five cents for delivery," he said. "Tell your mom I said thanks but I guess I won't need her to wash my shirts for me anymore. You better get back to school before you miss any more work."

"Yes, Sir, I'll let her know," Susan replied and left through the back door quickly.

"Straight back to school," Indy yelled out the door while Mutt made gagging noises behind his back. So it seemed that he decided to lord over everyone's kids, not just his own.

"Thanks for introducing us," Marion said, smacking her new husband on the arm.

"Sorry, Honey. It slipped my mind," Indy replied, rubbing where his wife had hit him.

Mutt watched the blonde dart across the yard and out into an alley behind the house. His parents were talking about something but he'd ceased listening almost immediately. It's not like they ever said anything important to him anyway. Do this; do that; you're going to school. It was all a variation on a theme; a theme that the youngest Jones was thoroughly exhausted with.

"Junior," Indy repeated for the fourth time, this time accentuating it with a smack. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Don't call me that," Mutt snapped.

"I said that you'll be going to the same school with Susan so you might as well try to make friends," Indy said. "Believe me, it was no small feat to get you into Gate. You're lucky your exams were so damn good."

"Yeah, 'cause I sure as hell wouldn't want to make _you_ look bad," Mutt yelled.

Indy grabbed his son and tossed him over his shoulder much to Mutt's protests, and his mother's surprise. "Marion, he's been asking for his comeuppance for a week now and I've tried to be nice about it but now, I've just had enough," Indy said heading out the back door and into the garage.

"Put me down, you asshole!" Mutt yelled, trying to punch the old man in the back but managing little more than a few pitiful hits that wouldn't have hurt a six year old. All the while, his old man was peppering his backside with stinging swat after swat.

Mutt was no sooner back on his own feet, than his father had pulled him across his lap and was laying into his jean clad bottom. After the first dozen smacks, Mutt was definitely feeling the effects of his father's strong hand. Another dozen later and the boy's resolve to take the spanking in silence was giving way to short ragged breaths as he tried to focus on anything other than the pain in his bottom. He looked at the oil spot on the floor, the dust swirling from the breeze underneath the door. A dozen more solid stinging smacks and his stubbornness gave way to the first pricks of tears in his eyes. After half a dozen more smacks to his burning backside, he was crying out apologies as if he were a small child. A handful more spanks and he was truly repentant and begging his father to stop.

Mutt knew he'd been pushing and pushing ever since they were in Peru and he knew it was stupid but couldn't stop himself. He wasn't sure how long he was bent over his father's knee being patted on his back until the sobs quieted to hiccups and embarrassed face rubbing.

"Now can we talk without the attitude?" Indy asked standing his son up. Wordlessly, Mutt nodded and crossed his arms over his chest trying to hold in another round of guilty sobbing. Indy knew that look, having worn it often enough as a boy after his father had walloped his rear and took his son in his arms which broke the last of the last of Mutt's defiance. He wrapped his arms around his father's waist and buried his head and sobbed as if his heart were broken. "It's all right, Kid. It's all over."

"I'm sorry, Dad," Mutt said into his father's chest. "Please don't hate me."

Indiana kissed the boy's head and pulled his face up to meet eye to eye. "Son, I will never hate you. It breaks my heart that it had to come to this, Kiddo, honest. But, I'd rather shatter my own heart a thousand times than let you think that no one cares enough about you to stop your bad behavior."

"I couldn't…," Mutt hiccupped. "I thought that you were only trying to get Mom to love you again and I wouldn't matter. I wanted to hurt you before you hurt me."

"I know, Son. Now just relax for a minute and let's talk. First of all, you are always going to matter to me," Indy said. "Now that I know, there's nothing in this world that matters to me more. Secondly, you are going back to school and Gate's the best alternative school in the state."

"I don't want to go to another prep school where I don't fit in," Mutt replied, steadying his breath. "I'm sick of being a fream."

"Gate isn't a prep school," Indy said, sitting his son on his knee, despite his really being too big. "I know you're smart, Mutt. Your test scores prove that. I just don't think that you're a mainstream student. The school is open tomorrow so we can go and have a look around. I want you to give me your word that you'll give Gate your best effort."

"I will, Dad," Mutt said, pulling out his handkerchief and wiping his nose. Indy stood his son up.

"There's one more thing we have to deal with since we're out here," Indy said, pulling the tarp from the boy's motorcycle. "If it's allowed, you can ride your bike to and from school but you skip off even once and it's impounded until you're eighty. Now let's go in before your mother thinks I'm tearing your backside off."

"It'd probably hurt less if you had," Mutt moped. Indy pulled his son into a one armed hug.

"I'd be really happy if I never had to do that again, Kid," he said. "We'll talk about the rules a little later."

"Do I get any say?" Mutt asked as they walked back to the house. He opened the door and his dad held it so he could go in first.

"Not on the big stuff but maybe we can come to some compromises on the smaller issues," Indy said. "Go up to your room and clean up. We'll order in for dinner."

"Yes, Sir," Mutt said, charging up the stairs.

Marion looked from her husband to her son but didn't ask questions. They seemed to work something out for themselves and she knew from the subdued behavior of her son that he'd gotten the business end of Indiana Jones' hand.

Indy wrapped his arms around his wife and leaned his head on her shoulder. "I'm getting too old for this," he moaned. "I'm exhausted."

"Welcome to parenthood, Doctor Jones," she said, sympathetically.

Up in his room, Mutt was taking his time checking out his new room, with his very own bathroom that he didn't have to share with his folks. Technically, it was connected to the guest room but it wasn't like he'd have to share it with someone every day. He pulled out a picture of his mom and him when he was four that he kept with him all the time. At his many various schools, he was usually ridiculed for it but he hadn't cared.

He sat down on his bed and immediately regretted not being gentler as his dad had really done a number on his rear. He supposed it could have been worse considering that his dad had walloped him over his clothes and only with his hand. Since he was already sitting, Mutt decided to lie down for just a minute and kicked his boots off. He felt like the weight of the world was off his shoulders at the moment and he was exhausted.

Before he knew what happened, he felt his mom shaking him awake. "Sweetheart, your dad just brought dinner home from the pizzeria. You've been asleep for a couple of hours."

Mutt groaned and rolled over to look at his mom. "Sorry, I didn't realize I was that tired."

Marion helped him sit up. "Honey, you know your dad loves you, right?"

"Yeah I know, Mom," Mutt said. "We talked about it."

"Come down and get some dinner, Honey," Marion said. "Your dad got pepperoni, mushroom and sausage. You both have the same taste in toppings. Enjoy it, too, since we're going to be living on my cooking after this."

"God we may not survive," Mutt joked, following his mother down the stairs.

They sat down at the table to eat and Mutt remembered to sit carefully as his father handed him a plate, content that his son was not glaring at him and was making an effort to be part of the family.

"Dad?" Mutt said, after swallowing some pizza. "You said that we're going to look around the school tomorrow?"

"That's the plan, Junior," Indy said.

"Tomorrow's Saturday so why's the school open?" he asked, not looking up from his plate.

"The school is open every day," Indy replied. "The school's an experiment that seems to be getting some excellent results. The majority of the students test above their peers across the state. Some pretty good stuff coming out of these kids."

Mutt rolled his eyes. "Dad, don't start putting that kind of pressure on me. What if I'm _not_ the smartest?"

It was at that moment that the famous Indiana Jones felt a light bulb go off in his head. The kid wasn't worried about his peers; he was worried about comparing to him. "I told you earlier, Kid; all we want is for you to do your best. Don't worry about who's smarter."

"You said we were gonna talk about rules and negotiations," Mutt said, wanting to know ahead of time what guidelines they thought he needed.

"We already discussed school," Indy said, choosing not to rehash the subject. "I know you were boozing in Peru, Kid, and that doesn't happen again. It impairs judgment."

"Why didn't you stop him?" Marion asked, giving her son the patented mom glare.

"There was a lot going on and I didn't know he was my kid then," Indy defended himself. "Anyway, that is one of the non-negotiable rules. Let's talk about curfew. Eight o'clock on school nights and in bed by ten and ten o'clock and in bed by eleven on the weekends, I think."

"I'm not eight!" Mutt protested. "What about ten during the week and one on weekends?"

"Nine during the week and eleven on weekends," Marion countered the offer.

"Nine thirty and twelve," Mutt retorted, "and I'll put in an hour of studying on Saturday."

"You're straight home from school. Homework and chores are done and you have dinner here before you go anywhere and it's a deal," Indy said.

"Agreed," Mutt said. "I think there should be a stipulation that getting kidnapped doesn't count against missing curfew since it seems to happen in this family more than it should. I need a little insurance about it."

Indy covered his mouth with his napkin to hide a laugh. "Okay. Fair enough. Any kidnappings won't be held against you."

"I wanna get a part time job to earn my own cash," Mutt continued.

"No," Indy said, flat out. "You'll get an allowance and can do work around the house for extra cash, if you need it. Your job is to get an education."

"But I want to work as a mechanic," Mutt argued. "I won't be able to do that here."

"School first," Marion looked at her husband in agreement.

"But I'll be in school another two years," Mutt sighed. "I really want to work with engines."

"Tell you what, Kid," Indy said. "If you're doing well in school and can handle what you've got, we'll talk about it again in six months."

"Three months," Mutt said.

"You keep track of your progress and give yourself an honest appraisal of your strengths and weaknesses and we'll talk again in four months," Indy said, now putting his empty plate to the side. "If we hear from the school that you're in trouble, you can expect to be in trouble here too."

Mutt swallowed hard. He knew exactly what his father meant by that. "What if I'm not at fault for something but I still get in trouble? Can I tell my side before you pass judgment?"

"Of course, Sweetheart," Marion said. "We're not going to punish you unfairly."

"But if you know you've done something wrong, we do expect you'll come clean of your own accord," Indy added.

"That's kinda wishful thinking, Pops," Mutt replied. Both his parents laughed at that moment of brutal honesty.

"Okay, point taken," Indy said. "I think we've covered the large issues and it's useless to try and hit every possibility in one night. We should all get some shut eye. We got a busy day tomorrow."

Morning came much earlier than Mutt would have liked and he was yanked from his peaceful slumber by his father's pounding on his door. He couldn't believe that after napping earlier, he'd gotten a full night's sleep; the first he could remember in a long time.

After being made to change into his suit, they all piled in the car and headed to Gate High School for the Gifted. Mutt's first thought was that the place didn't look at all like a school. It was a single level octagonal building with some other buildings abutting the expanses of lawns and an arboretum.

After inspecting the grounds just briefly, the Jones family went inside to look around the school but instead of finding classrooms filled with perfectly lined up desks and a teacher at the head of the room, there were round tables with five chairs per table, situated like a discussion group. There were walls full of books; each room looked like it sported its own library! Mutt took a look at some of the selection: Andersonville, As I Lay Dying, Black Boy, The Catcher in the Rye; books that had been banned at his other schools and he'd caught hell for reading.

"This doesn't look like any of my other schools," Mutt said, looking over the place with a critical eye.

"I told you. It's an experimental school; though I have to admit this looks very odd," Indy said heading off to the administration office.

"I think it looks very relaxed and nice," Marion said, looking over the wooden bookcases and carpeted floor. "What do you think, Honey?"

"I might survive here," Mutt said, trying to sound disinterested. He didn't want to admit that the place looked like it had potential. After all, he couldn't give his folks the satisfaction of winning every battle.

Indy returned. "The headmaster's in, Marion; we should talk to him before it gets much later. Mind yourself, Kid. We'll be back soon."

Mutt noticed the blonde that had been at his house the day before as she was reaching for a book on a high shelf. Hell, just because he was a greaser and a rebel didn't mean he was going to ignore the obvious. She was a cute blonde with a nice ass; he wasn't going to miss that chance. He stepped over and pulled the book down for her.

"Thanks," she said taking the book from him. "It's a little tough being short like this."

"Glad to help; I'm Mutt," he introduced himself. "Jones."

"How do you do, Mutt? I'm Susan March," she replied. "Will you be attending or are you just visiting?"

"I'm supposed to come here. How is it?" Mutt asked.

"It's a fine school if you're disciplined enough," Susan answered, wiping the dust from her hands. "Most of our work is self motivated and you can study just about anything you want outside of the mandatory subjects."

"So what sorts of things do most people study?" he asked, trying to get a feel for the place.

"Well, there's art history, philosophy, sociology, chemistry, physics, astronomy," she paused a moment, "Archeology, if you can get the books."

"Is that a big subject around here?" Mutt asked, inwardly groaning.

"Not really. It's just that some of us can't reach that high," she chuckled, patting the book. "Thanks again. I hope you don't think I'm being rude, but I'd like to finish this research before I have to leave."

"What's your rush? It's Saturday," Mutt said. "Do they lock you in if you're not done at a certain time?"

"No, it's just that I work at the diner by the train station and I'm picking up a shift," she replied. "I'm working the counter if you want to stop by later and I could tell you a bit more about school. The daily stuff, you know; the things that the old folks don't tell you about."

"Sure, if you don't think you'll be too busy," Mutt grinned.

"A diner in a college town on the Saturday before the start of classes… why would I be too busy?" she joked. "It'll be fine so long as you ignore the freshman assholes from Marshall."

Mutt laughed. "So, what are you looking up?" he asked.

"It's not anything really important," she replied, pushing a notebook aside. "It's just easier to work here on a Saturday when there aren't as many people around."

"C'mon, show me what you're working on," he said, employing the famous Jones smile.

"You'll think it's stupid," she argued. "But if you promise not to laugh, I'll show you."

"I promise not to laugh at you," he said, motioning an over exaggerated cross on his heart.

She opened the notebook and showed him some pieces of maps and notes associated with each region. "My dad's in Indochina going from village to village and gathering all this information about legends and historical sites. He sends me these maps and little trinkets and stuff that he comes across. Since I can't see these things for myself, this is my way of being close to my dad."

"That's kind of cool," Mutt said, looking over the maps. "Your dad's an archeologist too?"

"No, a history professor," Susan laughed. "Mom said he's having a mid-life crisis since his students started comparing his lectures to Doctor Jones'. I'm guessing it was just too hard an act to follow for him."

"I know the feeling," Mutt said, looking over to the office where his parents were finishing up their talk with the head of the school. "What are all these pieces of maps for?"

"They're a map of parts of Indochina where my dad's been nosing around," Susan said. "He sent me this weird old oil lamp he came across."

Marion started waving Mutt over. "Well, maybe some other time," he said.

"Must've gone okay since no one's tearing ass out of his office," Susan commented. "Not everyone digs Mister Dean's rap, y'know?"

"Cool, Baby, you're hip," Mutt said, giving her a friendly nudge.

"Junior," Indy called over to get his son's attention and causing a genuine glare of irritation on the teen's face.

"Ouch," Susan chuckled. "If looks could kill, your old man would be six feet under and pushing up the daisies by now."

"Yeah, I better see what's happening. See you later, alligator," Mutt winked.

"In a while, crocodile," she returned closing her books and gathering her things. "Hey, word of advice…"

"Yeah?" he asked looking back.

"Lose the tie; you looked better yesterday," she said with a grin, darting out the door.

The pleased look on Mutt's face was undeniable, particularly considering that his father rolled his eyes when he heard the compliment.

'_What are these kids coming to?'_ he thought as his son approached grinning ear to ear. "Mister Dean, this is our son, Henry."

The principal was a large man with silver hair with a full mustache and beard. "I'm pleased to meet you, Henry, and welcome to the Gate School for Exceptional Students. I've assured your parents that our curriculum of arts, sciences and community development are perfect for a young man of your talents. Do you have any questions?"

"Uh, no, not right now," Mutt replied, looking distracted. Indy gave him a nudge with his arm.

"You're being rude," Indy whispered to his son.

"Sorry, I just can't think of anything to ask right now," Mutt defended.

"Old men can hold no candle of interest in comparison to a pretty girl, yes?" the principal laughed. "I expect you in on Monday morning, Mister Jones. You'll start in lecture room 8 with the upper 11th students. Classes start at eight thirty."

"Sir," Mutt began, "is it okay if I ride my motorcycle to school?"

"Certainly, Henry," Mister Dean replied. "As long as you're here, we don't mind how you travel. In fact, our students find all manner of ways to get here. Car, bike, roller skates; it's all the same to us. Your folks have the list of everything you'll need. You folks are welcome to look around but I do have to be going. My wife's having the neighbors over for bridge." He shook the young man's hand. "Welcome to Gate, Henry."

"It's Mutt," he said.

"Junior!" Indy scolded resisting the urge to give his son a good smack. "I'm sorry. It seems my son has forgotten his manners."

"Not to worry, Doctor Jones. We like our students to be comfortable," Mister Dean said, clapping Mutt on the back. "If the use of a nickname encourages him to come back, then by all means, we will stick with Mutt. Good day, Doctor, Mrs. Jones… Mutt."

Mutt looked entirely pleased with how his day was going so far. Indy was feeling a lot less certain about the environment but he'd just handed over a very large check for tuition and would wait to see if his son flourished at the school. He just didn't think there was enough discipline at the school for his liking.

"So what do you think, Honey?" Marion asked Mutt.

"I suppose that I'll survive," Mutt said noncommittally. Once they'd piled into the car, he decided that it would be the best time to ask since his dad was looking pretty relaxed having let go of his irritation with Mutt. "Susan asked me to stop over at the diner where she's working later. She said she'd tell me more about the daily grind here. Can I go?"

"We'll see. You still owe us an hour of studying and your room's still mostly in boxes," Indy said. "Besides, you still have dinner at the house with us."

"You told me to make friends and now you want me to stay home," Mutt complained. "Surely _newlyweds_ could find something better to do with their time than hang with teenagers."

"Oh for God's sake, Jones, let him go," Marion said. "He'll just pout if he stays home."

"I do not pout!" Mutt said, crossing his arms across his chest.

--

Mutt sat at the counter of Frank's Diner and quickly realized that Susan hadn't been exaggerating about the state of the place on a Saturday night. He wondered if maybe he shouldn't suggest to his dad that they institute some kind of course on manners at Marshall after witnessing the college kids acting worse than a pack of hungry dogs on a lame cat. He remarked was impressed with the ability of the waitresses to dodge flying hamburgers, jump rivers of purposely spilled drinks, and play tough bill collector with those that tried to ditch on their checks. Of course for the difficult customers, out came Frank from the back; a six foot tall three hundred pound mammoth of a man who looked as if he could break most of the eggheads in half without breaking a sweat.

"Is it like this every weekend?" Mutt asked Susan as she caught a moment to catch her breath and she brought him a burger, fries and coke. "What do I owe you?"

"Don't worry about it; my treat. This is first weekend stupidity. It usually calms down after everyone knows the rules. Frank's not worried about banning the real jerks and he remembers them all," Susan said, seeing a couple of gentlemen in suits sit at the far end of the counter. "Duty calls. Be right back."

Mutt was starting to think that living like a regular teenager might not be so bad. Hanging at a diner, working on his bike, a fella could get used to letting someone else worry about the day to day crap. Mutt watched the two men that were ordering and the serious look on Susan's face. Something didn't seem quite right about the whole thing. She pushed an order sheet onto the spinner and made her way back to his end of the counter.

"Everything okay?" he asked, finishing his coke. Susan gave him a smile and pointedly did not look back at the two gentlemen.

"You ever get a really bad feeling about someone?" she asked quietly. He nodded. "Those two are giving me the creeps something fierce."

'_Oh man. Don't tell me…'_ Mutt thought. "What are they looking for?"

"They haven't said yet, but I have a good idea," she whispered. "I know we don't know each other very well, but could I ask you a great favor?"

"Shoot," he said. "I can't resist a damsel in distress."

"If you'd just take my school bag with you when you leave, I could get it from you later," she whispered. "Please?"

"Sure," Mutt replied. "But maybe you should come with me."

"That might be too dangerous," she said.

"Maybe, but danger is in the Jones blood," Mutt said, offering her a grin and his eyes glinting with mischief. Susan handed over the bag and he took her hand. "Jump."

"What? Jump where?" she asked.

"Over the counter; Now!" he ordered as she climbed up and he lifted her over. The two suited men stood and drew weapons. "Oh Shit. Um, run…"

"This way," Susan said, taking him around to the kitchen.

"Hey, Suzie, no customers in da kitchen!" Frank yelled as they ran through.

"Sorry, Frank, I'll call later," Susan said, blasting past with Mutt. The suited men charged in behind them and snagged Susan up by the collar. Mutt found a knife on the prep table and threw it, pinning the man's arm to the wall by his jacket sleeve.

"No customers in my kitchen!" Frank said, tussling with the two men in order to give the teens a chance to escape.

"My bike's out front," Mutt said, half dragging Susan along with him. They charged to the front and Mutt kicked the bike into life. He peeled out of the parking lot and tore away as the men followed, firing at the motorcycle. Mutt shifted to one side and attempted to dodge the fire. Susan let out a scream right in his ear. "We need to find somewhere to hide out… Pop is gonna kill me."

"I'm sorry, Mutt. I just wanted you to take the bag. You didn't have to do all of this," Susan said.

"We'll just blame it on my dad. It's something in the blood," Mutt said. He would have grinned except that there were people shooting at them. "Maybe I should take you to my place. Dad has a ton of experience with people trying to kill him. He might know what to do."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Susan asked.

"I dunno," Mutt replied, stopping the bike, "but if you have a better idea; I'm all ears, Baby doll."

"I mean, what if those guys have gone to our houses already? We could be walking into a trap," Susan said, wrapping her arms around her torso. "I know a place where I could hideout and you could go home. Let me off over by Riverview Park. I can walk to it from there and you can say honestly you don't know where I am. I'll figure out something."

"No way in hell I'm doing that. I mean, if you got into trouble; how would I find you?" Mutt said putting his jacket around her shoulders. "Look, my dad's a pill but he's not a rat. Let's just see what he has to say."

"I don't really see any other way out of this," Susan agreed putting her arms through the sleeves. "Let's go."

Mutt headed toward home and as they pulled up to the driveway, he saw a police cruiser's lights flashing around the front of the house. "Damn," he said as he closed the garage door behind him. "At least I don't think they can see back here easily."

He looked around and pointed up to the loft above the car. "Climb up there and hide. I'll come out and get you when the coast is clear."

"All right, but don't forget about me up here," Susan said, climbing atop the car and boosting herself up and swearing. He threw her a blanket as she tossed down his jacket.

"Hide under that, relax and don't make any noise. I'll be back as quick as I can," Mutt said, exiting from the smaller door.

"He tromped through the kitchen door and tried to act nonchalant. "Hey, I'm home!" he called out and he immediately heard two frantic sets of footsteps heading at him like gangbusters.

"Honey, you're all right!" Marion exclaimed, throwing her arms around her son. "You are all right, aren't you?"

"Henry Walton Jones, you have about two seconds to tell me why the police and the FBI are here looking for you?" Indiana said, his face paled and his entire body shaking as he grabbed the boy's jacket. Really, he wanted to grab Mutt and give him the biggest hug he'd ever gotten but until he found out what happened; he wasn't going to lose himself. Mutt recognized one of the men who'd chased them was standing at the doorway.

"Dad, it's not my fault. Honest, it isn't!" Mutt said. "I was hanging at the diner and these guys were making Susan nervous and when we tried to ditch out the back, they started chasing us and he," the young man pointed accusingly at the man in the doorway, "shot at us and I don't know why."

"Where is Miss March now?" the suited man demanded.

"Dunno. She took off when I stopped at a red light," Mutt said taking off his jacket.

"Indy!" Marion yelled, seeing blood on Mutt's shirt. "He's been shot! They shot my baby!"

Indy grabbed his son up in his arms and took him to the living room, much to Mutt's protests. "Where's it hurt, Son?"

"It doesn't, Dad," Mutt answered, looking at his shirt. "It's not my blood."

"You better tell us where she is, Son," the police officer said, doing his best to sound kind and paternal. "Looks like your little girlfriend's hurt."

"I told you already that I don't know," Mutt growled. It was time to put on the best acting job of his lifetime. Mutt began increasing his breathing to make it look like he was having a nervous attack. "She jumped off my bike and took off. We were close to Marshall. She might have gone to hide out there somewhere. You gotta find her! She's hurt and it's _his_ fault."

"Where's the lamp?" the man asked roughly.

"Get out of my house!" Marion snarled at the man as Indy looked over their son carefully. "You shot at my son. You have no further business here."

"Doctor Jones, your exploits are well documented…" the man started threateningly.

"I don't give a hot damn if they have my hat size on file. You'll leave or I'll get my own gun and have a shot at you," Indy said raising to his full height and doing his best to hold back his wife who was desperately trying to get at the man. "You want one word out of my son, you better have J. Edgar Hoover send me a personal telegram with an apology."

"He's worse than the damn Reds," Mutt said, antagonizing the man. "Shooting at unarmed people is something that they'd do. Why don't you go and join your comrades in the Kremlin?"

The police officer took the FBI agent by the arm and pulled him toward the door. "I'll stop by in the morning to get your son's statement, Doctor Jones. You want me to radio dispatch to get a doctor to come over?"

"Thanks but no. We'll get him to bed and he'll be fine in the morning," Indy said. "He's just a bit shook up, I think. Having someone shooting at a sixteen year old kid is probably bound to shake a body up."

"G'night, Doc, Ma'am," the officer said.

Once the officers were well away from the house, Mutt stood up and ran for the kitchen door but Indy grabbed him before he got outside. "Wait. The _other one_ is snooping around out there."

"But Susan…" Mutt began.

"Go get my gun from my left hand desk drawer," Indy instructed. "Marion, I'm going out. Aim for the one that's not me."

Indy looked into the darkness and watched the man looking into the windows of the garage. Quietly, he approached the man and cold-cocked the man and tossed him into the back alley where he stumbled to a car and it sped off. Indy flipped on the light in the garage and looked around. "Susan!" he called out. "Susan, answer me!"

He saw the blanket move and Susan's sat up looking pale and pasty. "Hi, Doctor Jones," she said, holding her arms tightly around her midsection. "Sorry for the trouble. It wasn't Mutt's fault."

"Come down from there," he ordered, reaching up to help her down from the loft. "I don't suppose there's going to be an easy answer to all of this, is there?"

"No, Sir," she replied as she hissed in pain from the jostling.

"First thing's first, we'll call your mom to let her know you're okay," Indy said.

"You can't!" Susan argued and immediately backpedalled. "I mean, she's away right now so she doesn't even know anything's wrong."

"Come on, Susan," Indy scolded, helping her down from the car's roof and putting an arm under her to steady her on her feet which wasn't easily happening. Realizing that she was possibly going into shock, he picked her up. "Where's your mom?"

She lost consciousness before she could answer and Indy put her on the dining room table. He tore away her blouse from the wound to inspect it.

"Is she going to die?" Mutt asked, trying not to look at his new friend on the table. It would just figure that he'd make a friend and have her get killed.

"It's just a grazing wound but she's lost a fair bit of blood," Indy said, clapping his son on the shoulder. "We'll be able to manage it here, except for the antibiotics."

Marion brought her first aid kit that she'd kept with her for years to clean the wound and wrap it. She handed Mutt some smelling salts. "I need her awake, Honey. Wave that under her nose. Jones, get me some bandages."

Mutt shoved the wretched smelling bottle under Susan's nose. "Wake up. You ain't allowed to die today," Mutt told her.

"I'm awake," she gagged as pain wracked her body. She reached up to push the smelling salts away from her face. "God, that stinks."

"They're supposed to," Indy said, tearing some towels for bandages. "You must have quite a story to tell if you're getting shot. First of all, where's your mom?"

"She's away," Susan said, returning to her original story.

"Away where and when's she coming back?" Indy demanded. "Who have you been staying with?"

"Last I heard, she was in Chicago," Susan answered bitterly. "I've been staying on my own. I'm not a child, you know."

"Does your dad know? I know he's on sabbatical from work, but surely he'd come home if he knew about your being alone," Indy said, watching as Marion wrapped up the girl's wound. He tried to keep his voice even but he was furious at the whole situation and had no good immediate outlet. His son could have been seriously hurt or killed for something that was none of his affair and his blood was boiling.

"He writes to me but he's moving around so much I don't know how to contact him. He's in China somewhere right now," she replied, trying not to look the man in the eyes. "It's no big deal. I can take care of myself and no one even knows about the camper in the woods past Riverview Park."

"I see," Indy remarked sarcastically. "Except for being shot, you're taking care of yourself very well. What did they want from you?"

"I'm guessing it has something to do with the maps and stuff he's been sending me," she began to explain.

"Empty the bag, Kid," Indy demanded. "Let's see just what was so damn important. If you want to risk your own life, that's your choice, but when you chose to involve my kid, you made the biggest damn mistake of your life. I should have let the feds have you."

"Dad!" Mutt yelled, his temper rising. "That's not fair!"

"Junior, I'm not in a mood to be trifled with. I'm relieved that you're okay but I want to see what this mess is about," Indy snapped, grabbing the bag and tossing out her notebooks and a small box. He roughly opened the box and pulled out what appeared to be an old oil lamp. He threw it back at her with the fullest force he could muster. "This is it? My son got shot at for a cheap piece of tin?"

"Jones, take it easy," Marion said, helping the girl cover up. "You're getting overwrought."

"I'm sorry, Doctor Jones," Susan whispered, swallowing hard.

"You're not even at the start of sorry, Miss March," Indy growled at the girl, grabbing her by the throat and starting to squeeze. The girl's eyes went wide as she struggled to breathe. "You could have gotten my son killed."

For all those years, and all the people who tried to hurt him or the people he cared about, this would be the last damn person he allowed to harm his family. Mutt jumped on his back, trying to pry his father's hands from Susan's throat. He punched his dad in the head and Indy pulled his hand away from her throat but still had a firm grip on the girl's arm.

"Mutt, take Susan up to the guest room," Marion said, forcibly removing Indy's vice like grip from the coughing and sputtering girl. "We'll talk in the morning."

After the two teens were out of earshot, Marion rounded on her husband. "What in the hell is wrong with you, Jones? You could have killed that girl! I've seen you treat your enemies with more decency."

Indy ran his hands through his hair and growled. "Damn it, it has to be somebody's fault. Who should I blame?"

"Go for a walk!" Marion demanded. "Our son's been through enough for one night and his friend needs someone to help her. Now if you want to alienate him, you go ahead and keep ranting. Maybe we should be thankful that there's no revolution for him to run away and join."

Indy grabbed his coat and keys and stormed out the front door to take a walk as his wife suggested. She had been correct that he needed to calm down. After all, Mutt hadn't gone looking for trouble unlike he did at that age. He also regretted his suggestion that the boy get to know Susan. He'd known her since she was in pre-school and yet, it didn't make him want to kill her any less, however. His hand clenched and unclenched recalling the pressure he'd put on the girl's throat, feeling himself trying to squeeze the life out of her. He wondered if his wife and son hadn't been there, if he would have really murdered her. It made him sick to think that he'd just assaulted the girl; a child who had no one else to rely on.

He wanted to live a quiet life with as few complications as possible as Doctor Henry Jones, husband, father and associate dean. This wasn't the way to start out!

After an hour, Indy returned home, chilled from the weather and his head clearer and ready to look at the lamp and whatever else the girl had that would be of use. The house was quiet with only the light in the living room to indicate that Marion was still awake.

"Hi, Honey," he said quietly as he kissed her cheek. "Is Mutt asleep?"

"Probably not," she replied setting her book aside. "He finally convinced Susan to let me give her a sleeping pill. Come morning, she's going to leave to take care of things herself. Hope you have some ideas to keep your son from taking off with her."

"Depends on what I can figure out about that lamp and its importance," Indy said. "I'm going to talk to Mutt, before he does something stupid."

Indy saw the light on from underneath his son's bedroom door and knocked. "Can I come in?" he called in.

"Get bent," was the reply he got.

"Come on, Son," Indy said, "I just want to talk."

The door unlocked and Indy stepped in to see his son packing a bag. "Going somewhere, Junior?"

"Leaving, what the hell do you care anyway?" Mutt replied, glaring at his father. Indy was too tired to scold or yell at his son that he was doing no such thing so he let the boy rant a while. "I'm leaving with Susan as soon as she can move. I'll help her figure out what's up with the stuff her dad sent. I thought you'd be real earthbound, y'know, not try to kill her."

"I messed up, Kid," Indy admitted, wondering when he was ever going to know what half the new slang was.

"You tried to strangle her," Mutt yelled at his father. "That's way more than messing up. That's psychotic, man."

"Give me a chance to fix it?" Indy asked. "I got scared and stupid. Let me make it right."

"Screw off, Old man. You had your chance. I was stupid to even suggest that we come to you," Mutt spat. "She didn't want to rely on anyone but I said that my dad could help. I really thought you'd be the guy to go to. I sounded like such a little kid thinking you'd be different. Guess you showed me."

"I'm sorry, Mutt," Indy said, sitting in the desk chair. "I let you down. I don't want to lose you, so… please, let me work on this. Where are her things?"

"She's scared to death of you," Mutt said, staying out of his father's reach. "Of course, it shouldn't be a surprise."

"If you get the lamp and her notes, I'll see what I can figure out," Indy said. "I let fear override my better senses. I'll fix this, even if I have to go to China and drag her father back with me, okay? I could use you to be a little forgiving."

Mutt scowled at his father. He wanted to just stay angry at him, call him an asshole and leave, taking Susan with him. The old man was trying, though, and seemed genuine in his apology. He looked so old and tired and Mutt wanted to tell him that he forgave him. "Okay, Dad, but you better not double cross her… or me."

After a few minutes, Mutt returned with the lamp and Susan's notebook. "She was probably a lot more agreeable since Mom gave her some kind of sleeping pill."

"I'll take care of it," Indy promised. "Get some sleep."

"I won't be able to. Can I help?" Mutt asked.

"It won't be much more than me reading through books and trying to identify the era the lamp came from, but you're welcome to sit in the office with me," Indy replied. "Or you can stay up here and get some sleep. You'll need it if you still plan on running away tomorrow."

"Well, what other choice do we have?" Mutt defended himself. "I don't think 'Sorry I tried to strangle you' is going to hold much water for trusting you. Why'd you do that?"

Indy grabbed his son and held him close to him. "Because when I saw that blood and thought it was yours, I got scared, Kid. Stupid scared that I wanted to hurt someone else to make my fear go away."

"You have a sick way of showing you care, man," Mutt replied, muffled from his dad clutching the boy to his chest.

He flipped on his desk lamp and cleared some dust from the inscription on the lamp with a loose brush. The lamp was a smallish bronze oil lamp with a round indentation atop the lid, crusted with years of sand and dirt. He looked at the inscription and referenced a book of ancient writings.

"The legendary lamp of Al Jhadin," he read. "You gotta be kidding me."

* * *

**End note: I know it took an embarrassingly long trek to get to the Macguffin. Please leave a review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I want to thank everyone who has put my story on alerts or favorited it and left reviews. I appreciate it very much. For those people who disagree with the scene of Indy spanking Mutt, I can only say that there was a warning put on the summary for a reason. I know very well that it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea and everyone has their own ideas of what Indiana Jones would or would not do. **

**The nineteen fifties in the United States were not a time of parents being thier children's friends. That crap didn't start until the hippies of the sixties started having kids. In the fifties, parents laid down the law; the kids obeyed them. I thought that it was stretching believability to have Indy negotiating with Mutt about the rules later on. Even today there are areas of the US where school districts still paddle students as old as high school so having a parent spank a teen wasn't so far out of line.**

**That said, this chapter has coarse language and some references to violence but no spanking. There may be others later; I don't know yet.**

* * *

Doctor Jones worked until well after three trying to open the lamp whose lid was locked securely in place. It appeared that the indentation worked as a lock but even after looking through the things the girl was carrying in her bag, he found nothing of the right size and diameter and markings that would help. In his frustration, he'd even tried rubbing and saying 'Open Sesame' and immediately felt stupid.

"Well, what in the hell did you expect, Jones? This isn't some Bugs Bunny cartoon," he said to himself, causing his sleeping son to grunt unintelligibly. He ran his hands through his hair as he looked over at Mutt. Though he'd hoped Mutt would get bored quickly, Indy had given up trying to get the boy to bed when it was obvious that no amount of threatening or cajoling would work while his father had his friend's belongings.

He translated the inscription around the outside of the indent.

"That a man should receive half his wishes, he doubles his worries," Indy read. "That's for damn sure."

Mutt started. "What is it, Dad?" he mumbled.

"What it is, Young man, is very late," Indy said. "There's not going to be much more I can do tonight unless Susan has the key to this lamp. Go to bed, Kid."

"What about her bag?" Mutt asked groggily.

"I'll put it back, Son," he said, stopping outside of the guest room door. He had no idea how he was going to get the girl to stay where she was once she was awake short of tying her to the bed. Quietly he opened the door and allowed the light from the hall to fall onto the bed where she lay restless in her sleep. Placing the lamp and bag on the dresser, he moved closer to check on her. Her face was bathed in sweat and she mumbled incoherently. He noticed the purplish bruises he'd put on her throat and wondered if he wasn't actually psychotic, as his son had suggested.

He went into the bathroom and got a cool cloth to wipe her face and the girl's eyes fluttered open as he did. She pulled away, falling out of the bed scooting herself to a far corner of the room, her blue eyes wide with fear.

"Please don't kill me," she croaked.

"Look, Kid. I'm not going to hurt you," Indy said, knowing it sounded hollow and stupid. He forced himself to stay calm as he approached only a few steps at a time. "Right now, you need to get back into bed. You're a sick girl."

"Just let me go. I swear I won't tell anyone," she said, looking as if she were trying to find an escape route. "Please, I don't want to die."

"Susan, I am not going to kill you," he said, forcing his voice to remain low and soothing, though he really felt neither at the moment. He knelt next to her, grabbing her by the arms and trying to haul her back to bed. "I wish I hadn't hurt you. I'm sorry, Kid. If I could take it back, I would."

Indy stopped and turned as he heard a hissing coming from the dresser. The lamp erupted with a blue wispy flame from the end. He moved over to the dresser and picked up the lamp. For the briefest of moments thought that he'd seen a face within the flame but it flickered out just as quickly as it had flared.

"Did you see that?" he asked Susan, only to find that she was lying in bed looking as if she'd never moved. He went to the bedside; she was still fevered and sweating but the bruises on her throat were gone.

"Doctor Jones?" she said blinking a few times and tears brimming in her eyes. She pushed the covers away from her body and trying to steady herself on her feet. "I am so sorry that I caused so much trouble for you and Mrs. Jones and Mutt."

"No, stay in bed," Indy said gently, helping her to lie back down and wrapping the blankets around her. "I know you didn't mean any harm. I'm going to try to get a telegram to your father in China so he'll come back, but until then, I want you to stay here, if you're not scared of me."

The girl shook her head. "I've known you since I was a kid, why would I be afraid of you?"

"I thought that after the way I treated you last night…" Indy began.

"You had a right to be mad," Susan replied. "I woulda been if it was my kid. You were right, you know. It's just a cheap lamp. I should've just let them have it."

"You did the right thing. Those guys would make no good of it," Indy said, placing a hand on her forehead. "I'm going to get you something for this fever."

"Are you okay, Doctor Jones?" Susan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Kid. Just try to get some more sleep," he said. "Just stay covered."

Indy went into the bathroom and found nothing but Mutt's pomade and shaving cream. Of course he wouldn't have anything useful lying around. He then tiptoed into the master bath, trying not to wake his wife as he looked for the aspirin, dropping the bottle and creating a racket.

"Jones?" she said looking over to the bathroom. "Are you all right?"

"Looking for some aspirin for Susan; she's running a fever," Indy said.

Marion got out of bed and went into the bathroom with him. "There's Tylenol on the top shelf. I'll take them to her. I've a little more experience with sick kids than you have."

"Marion, did I choke her last night?" he asked her.

"Of course you didn't," Marion said. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I don't know, Honey. Maybe," he said, knowing for certain that he hadn't imagined it or been hallucinating. "It must have been a bad dream."

"You've been working all night," Marion said, taking the pills and water from Indy. "Lie down and get some sleep. I'll take these to Susan to help her rest more comfortably."

Indy lay on the bed and kicked off his shoes. Knowing what he did of the legend, he figured that he must have triggered the lamp when he wished to have handled what happened with Susan differently. He sat up and went back to the guest room and grabbed the lamp, knocking on it.

"You in there, come on out," he demanded as Marion and Susan looked at him as if he were insane. "I know you're in there."

Marion walked over to her husband and took the lamp out of his hand. "Honey, you've been working too hard. Come to bed," she said, turning out the light.

"You don't understand," Indy said looking excited. "That lamp granted a wish."

"Good night, Susan," Marion said closing the door.

"Good night, Mrs. Jones," she said, rolling over to her good side to rest.

Marion took a moment to stop and check on Mutt, pulling his covers up over him. In some ways he was so young that Indy's heart ached with regret that he hadn't been there for the boy as a small child. He wondered what life would have been like if he'd raised Mutt alongside Marion; been there for his first steps, his first words, when he learnt to ride a bicycle. He waited until his wife closed the door again and took her hands in his.

"You don't understand, Honey. That is THE lamp from the Aladdin tale. The name's been altered over the years. It was originally Al Jhadin but it's easy to see the connection," Indy said, excitedly. "I'll be damned if it didn't change something that happened last night. Do you know what this means?"

"Yes, it means you're delusional," Marion said. "You've been working all night. Get some sleep so that we can figure out how to get that girl the antibiotics she needs without alerting everyone under the sun where she is."

"Anything we wanted, Sweetheart," Indy said. "I could go back and make right what I did wrong all those years ago."

"What?" Marion asked. "Honey, you're losing it."

Indy grumbled at her since she was using the same tone with him that she did with Mutt when he was being stubborn and petulant. "I did not imagine it, Marion," he said, letting his wife massage his neck and get him to lie back.

"I know you didn't, Dear," Marion said softly. "Just relax and close your eyes. You can't solve anything when you're tired. You can try again to get the lamp sorted out in the morning."

Indy started to say something but was quieted by exhaustion and didn't even realize that he was even asleep until he woke with the sun shining through a slit in the curtains of the bedroom. He stretched and sat up, trying to fully recall the events of the previous evening.

Everything was clear to him but if it had been a dream; Mutt and Susan might have already run off. He threw on his trousers and charged down the stairs to the kitchen where Marion and the two teens were sitting and having breakfast. Susan still looked pale and unwell, but they were there. He noticed she was wearing one of Mutt's dress shirts as the one she'd worn the night before was destroyed.

"Jeez, Dad, put a shirt on!" Mutt moaned, throwing a shirt from the clean laundry basket his father's way.

"You're here," Indy said, buttoning up, happy that the kids were still there and neither looked unhappy to see him. "You didn't take off."

"Uh… no," Mutt replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm gonna go and get Sue's stuff after breakfast though."

"Don't mind your father, Honey," Marion said, setting a platter of pancakes on the table. "He was working on that lamp until almost four."

"Where is the lamp, Susan?" Indy asked. "There's something I need to check."

"Not at the breakfast table," Marion scolded, giving Indy a light smack on the head with her oven mitt. "We eat like civilized people; then you can piddle around with the lamp."

"Mom, that's not fair. You've spent more than one breakfast buried in a book or the newspaper," Mutt said, unconsciously defending his father. The comment earned Mutt an equal smack from his mother with the mitt that did nothing but amuse the two Jones men.

Susan smiled to herself at the casual easiness of their exchanges; something to which she had little exposure. Mutt motioned for Susan to hand him the lamp which he in turn passed to his father underneath the table. He looked over the lamp and motioned to the indentation to Susan silently asking if she had the key. She shrugged. Everyone stopped what they were doing and Indy put the lamp on his lap as Marion turned and sat down with the bacon.

"Eat up, everyone," Marion said, "and don't think that I don't _know_ you're hiding that lamp, Doctor Jones."

"I don't know what you mean, dear," Indy said as he tried to give her an innocent look but failed miserably.

"I don't know how you expect him to mind the rules when you don't," Marion sighed, causing Mutt to chuckle underneath his breath, which earned him a small smack on the arm from his father which caused Marion to give Indy a smack. After a round of smacks, the Jones family settled down to their breakfast.

"Susan, I need to know where your father's last letter came from. I can send a telegram to a colleague in Beijing and have him make some inquiries," Indy said as they ate.

"Last I knew he was excavating near the boarder of China and Vietnam," Susan replied, pulling out her maps. "He started in Hong Kong and traveled into China's mainland and through the countryside."

"Dad, last night you said that the lamp was from the tale of Aladdin, right? I thought that the story came from the Middle East," Mutt said.

"The story came from there but it's set somewhere in and around China," Indy replied. "As these sorts of tales do, they tend to travel a bit, making their true origins difficult to ascertain. However, I would say with this little trinket has proved itself a little more precise."

"How do you figure that?" Mutt asked. "It's just a lamp."

Indy placed the table on the lamp. "It's more than that, Son, believe me. Susan, where's the key that fits the indentation?"

"There might be something in the other things my father sent, I'm not certain though. They're back where I was staying," Susan admitted, setting her fork aside.

"You mentioned that last night," he said. "You mentioned a camper somewhere in the woods past Riverview Park? Why on earth didn't you stay with someone?"

"I didn't want to quit school and there's no one to stay with," Susan said, shrugging. "I work hard at the diner; almost thirty hours a week. I can take care of myself. Besides, it's not like I was expecting to get caught up in some sort of international conspiracy."

"No one plans that sort of thing," Marion said, gently. "They just happen that way, particularly around the Joneses."

Indy chuckled. "It's true enough," he said. "Do you think that I'll be able to find your hideaway out there reasonably? Or do I need a compass and a search party?"

"It's fairly out of the way in the woods between the airfield and Riverview Park. It's about half a mile west when you get to the old shantytown near the river on the left hand path. There used to be a road that went down there, but it's blocked now from downed trees and things."

"What were you going to do when it gets cold?" Marion asked as Susan shrugged in reply. "Honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd think you and my son were separated at birth. Of course, I can blame his father for that particular fault."

"He gets some of it from you," Indy defended. He squeezed Marion's hand. "I think we'd both better go so that we make sure to get all of her things."

"Susan, you should go back to bed," Marion said. "You're still looking pale. Are you hurting?"

The girl shook her head. "No, not really, I'm just a bit warm."

Marion laid a cool hand on Susan's forehead. "More than just a bit warm, I'd say. Off to bed with you. Jones, you better stay here in case those feds decide to come back. I'll get Susan's things."

"And what if the feds go after you?" Indy asked. "No, we're best to stick together."

"I'll be fine," Marion argued. "The kids need an adult here."

Mutt turned to Susan while his parents continued to argue. "So you said that the road was filled with downed trees now, but do you think my bike could get in?"

"Maybe but you'd have to be really careful," Susan replied. "It's a dirt road, so you might have a lot of dust kicked up."

"What about you, Marion?" Indy asked. "If they decide to go after you, you'd be on your own."

"Jones, you're being ridiculous," Marion shot back.

Mutt shook his head and went back to his discussion with Susan. "How much stuff do you have?"

"Not much; just one suitcase of clothes and the chest. It's not very big, about the size of a breadbox," she said. "Mom sold everything else with the house."

"I could take some rope and tie it all to the back. I suppose it'd take about an hour or so," Mutt said. "Don't worry, I won't mess with anything; just bring it back for you."

"It's too dangerous, Mutt," Susan said, trying to get the attention of the entire Jones family. "It's too dangerous for anyone to go."

The girl rested her head in her hands. "I wish I'd never even…" she began but was stopped by Indy clamping his hand over her mouth.

"Don't finish that thought, Susan," he ordered. "We'll figure out how to fix things but don't wish for anything that will change what's going on now."

"Dad, I have the best chance of getting there and back without trouble," Mutt said. "My bike can get places that their car can't."

"He's right," Marion said. "I'm not happy about it, but he's right."

Indy gave his son a very appraising look. "No, I don't like it. What if you let me use your motorcycle?"

Mutt cocked an eyebrow at his father. "You're kidding, right? If you had to start pulling any hard turns, you could break a hip or something."

"I am not that old, Junior," Indy scowled at his son.

"He's right about something though, Honey," Marion said. "He'll be good at maneuvering away from any obstacles, and he's very safe."

"Have you ever ridden with him, Marion?" Indy asked before relenting. He walked his son out to the garage where they saw the black sedan sitting and pointedly not watching them just as a good tail did. "All right, but if it starts looking dangerous; I want you to come home. Don't risk your neck too much. I'll go make nice with the feds."

"I won't, Pops," Mutt replied.

Indy stepped out to the sedan and knocked on the window. "I hate to bother you while you're working, but if you could pull back from the garage. My son's heading out to Sunday school and my wife and I will want to head out to church shortly. Thanks that would be great."

The driver turned over the ignition and drove down the alley, looking annoyed as Indy gave them a smile and wave as they went.

Mutt threw the bike into gear and screeched out of the garage as the tail car waited for him at the corner. Since most families were headed to church, there were a number of cars on the road through which Mutt could weave through, frustrating his pursuers in their jobs. They kept on his tail as he entered the centre sqauare where he led them on a chase circling the town hall half a dozen times before he tore past the Catholic cathedral which was solid with traffic as he jumped the curb and rode down the sidewalk. Mutt flipped the feds the bird before taking off on the chase once again.

"Wahoo!" Mutt yelled in victory, speeding away and heading out of town, alone. It wasn't long before Mutt was at the back of the airfield and headed down the old dirt road as he dodged logs and rocks and the occasional squirrel along the way.

The camper was an old wood piece of crap but it had to have been better than nothing. Looking around, he was kind of glad that his folks demanded Susan stay at their house until her dad got back. He knew that his dad would get a hold of her dad. It seemed like Indiana Jones had friends all over the world to talk to. Mutt shook the thoughts from his head. Since when was he such a square anyway? Of course, being a square was better than having his old man cracking on him all the time.

It didn't take long before Mutt found Susan's suitcase and the small chest she'd told him about. He picked up everything and situated it on his bike securely before heading back to home. He got no further than the rear of the airfield when he noticed the black sedan heading up the road.

"Shit," he muttered ducking back into the woods until the car passed by and he could make his way back. Mutt took off at top speed back toward town and didn't stop until he was pulling into his own driveway.

"Everything go all right?" Indy asked, as he privately took inventory of his son and made sure that he wasn't hurt. He grabbed the boy and checked him over, turning his face back and forth and looking over his limbs.

"I'm fine, Pops," Mutt replied. "I had to burn rubber to shake the fuzz first but it was no sweat. They'll be back soon unless they got lost on that long lonely dirt road."

"Well, no need to worry about it now," Indy said. "Let's get this stuff inside and see if we can get that lamp to work again."

"Again?" Mutt asked. "Did something happen while I wasn't here?"

"It did something last night, Kiddo," Indy said, holding the door open for his son.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Mutt asked. "Then we could have all seen."

"Wasn't much to see, Mutt. Besides, it's better this way," Indy replied. "Susan's resting upstairs. That fever still hasn't come down. Perhaps you can take her personal belongings up to her."

Mutt took Susan's suitcase up to the guest room and knocked for admittance. Once Susan told him to enter, he opened the door and peeked in. "I have your clothes and stuff. How're you feeling?"

"Thanks, Mutt," Susan said as he set her case on the dresser. She was holding onto the lamp that was at the center of all the problems. "You really didn't have to put yourself in so much danger.

"I didn't mind," Mutt said. "Besides, if you're going to be staying here, you'll need your stuff."

"I know your dad's worried about something happening to you and your mom," Susan said. "You're really lucky that they care about you so much."

"I'm sure your folks care about you too," Mutt said.

Susan shrugged. "I guess."

Mutt took the girl's hand in his and pulled her closer to him. "What aren't you telling, Sue?" he asked.

"I'm just used to relying on myself," Susan replied, her eyes cast downward. "I managed okay until this stupid lamp came. I was just getting my life settled; at least a little bit. If I believed in such nonsense, I'd say it was cursed."

"You don't believe that really," Mutt said. "It's just bad timing."

"I'd just as happily throw it into the river and be done with it if…" Susan trailed off. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so ungrateful. Your folks have been so nice and I'm busy griping."

"Seems to me you have some right to gripe," Indy said from the doorway as he carried in the chest. "I was hoping to have a look at the lamp again and possibly look through some of the things your father sent to see if he possibly sent the key."

"I've got some arrowhead, some little jade sculptures, and a scroll that my dad said is my name written in Chinese, some small coins…," Susan said, opening the chest. "I don't really see anything that looks like a proper key."

"Let's try some of those coins," Indy said.

From the downstairs, they heard the doorbell ringing and Indy looked out to see not only their federal observers from earlier but the local police cruiser as well.

"Ah, shit," Mutt said. "I'm not sure we're going to put 'em off again."

"I wish there was a way to get them to stop looking for me," Susan said.

The lamp began to smoke and a flame erupted from the tip. She set the lamp on the bedside table and backed away. Once the smoke and dust settled, they saw a diminutive creature standing six inches high with pink skin and blue hair that looked as if it were made of flames, dusting off and looking most irritated as she coughed.

"All right, just who are you water bags and why do you keep bothering me?" she demanded in a squeaky voice as they stared at her.

Indy bent down to look at the little creature and said, "Who are you?"

"I asked first!" she sniffed, indignantly.

Indy would have laughed if it hadn't been so beyond belief. "I'm Doctor Henry Jones and my son, also named Henry. The young lady is Susan March. We're in a bit of a jam here if you don't mind. Those fellows are downstairs are after you and your lamp and they're not above hurting the kids to get it."

"They can go get their own houses!" the little djinni declared her blue hair flaring up in flames. "You may call me Xanae. Why would those men harm the younglings?"

"Because they think the girl's father has sent her something very powerful. They've already tried to shoot her once," Indy said.

"Would you like me to disguise your younglings?" she asked.

"Yes!" Indy said decidedly.

They watched as the tiny djinn began to smolder and finally exploded. When the smoke cleared, Indy noticed that he was looking down at Mutt and Susan, who looked all of about three years old.

"What did you do?" Indy asked, as the two now very small children looked up at him confused and both looked as if tears were on the horizon.

"I put a disguise on them, of course," Xanae replied. "The wicked water sacks aren't expecting little children so they should leave you alone now. Besides, I heard what you told the female last night. You want to go back and do things differently. Well, short of making him an infant, won't this do?"

Indy heard footsteps on the stairs and said to the children, "We're going to play pretend. Just call me daddy while the other men are here, okay?"

The door burst open and Marion was standing in front of the federal agents who pushed her in and with a quick pop, Xanae was no longer visible and the room looked closer to a nursery than a guest room.

The chief of police handed Indy a search warrant. "We're here to look for Susan March, Doctor Jones," he said. "Agent Collins here seems to think you're hiding her. Well, Collins? I don't see Miss March here."

"Mommy!" Mutt yelled dashing over to Marion and throwing his arms around her waist. "Mommy, what's goin' on?"

Marion instinctively picked up her little Mutt and didn't need to be told that the little boy was her son. She rocked him on her hip as she'd done countless times as a small boy.

Indy took Susan's hand and walked over next to his wife. "Make this quick!" Indy ordered. "I was about to put them down for a nap. She's sick and needs very little excitement."

"No nap!" Mutt argued. "I a big boy!"

"I wanna go home!" Susan whined.

"Well, thank you very much," Marion said to the officers, mimicking irritation very well. "Now I've got two cranky children and you're chasing ghosts. Would you mind doing your search and getting the hell out of here?"

"You said bad words, Mommy," Mutt said, putting his hand on Marion's mouth.

"Honey, don't put your hands on mommy's mouth," Marion said, pulling his hands down. Mutt settled himself with resting his head on her shoulder and popped his thumb into his mouth.

Collins picked up the lamp from one of the small beds. "I know she's here, Doctor, and I will find her," he sneered.

Susan grabbed the lamp from the man's hands. "Mine!" she said, smacking his hand. "Daddy gived it to me!"

"You little brat!" Collins yelled, raising his hand to the child. Indy grabbed the man's arm.

"Don't even think of it," Indy growled. He then turned his attention to the little girl. "You don't hit people! Say you're sorry and you're going to bed."

Susan shook her head before Indy gave her a severe look. "I wanna go home," she demanded, stomping a tiny foot.

"You are home. Now, say you're sorry right now or you're going to be in trouble," Indy said, keeping his voice even yet stern.

The tiny blonde's bottom lip quivered. "I'm sorry," she relented.

"Are you in the habit of giving small children valuable artifacts as toys, Doctor Jones?" Collins said.

"Stick to violating citizens' constitutional rights, Collins, since you sure as hell don't know your ass from your elbow when it comes to antiquities," Indy said.

"I go 'way now," Susan said, timidly, keeping her lamp and heading for the door. Marion took hold of the little girl's hand.

"No, Sweetie. You stay with me," Marion said rounding on Collins. "I want you out of my house. It's hard enough having toddlers but having one sick and you interrupting nap time is not acceptable. You're lucky my husband's more of a disciplinarian. I'd have let her bite you."

Marion huffed out of the room with Mutt on one hip and Susan clinging on her hand while still holding her lamp as Indy covered his grin with a hand. "Chief, surely you can see we have our hands well more than full."

"Agent Collins, what is it your lookin' for anyway?" the chief asked.

"We have reason to believe that Susan March is in possession of the lamp of Aladdin. The American government cannot allow such a powerful artifact to be in the possession of any private citizen; let alone a sixteen year old girl."

The police chief gave the man a hard look and tipped his hat to Indy. "I think we'll be leaving you to your family, Doctor Jones. I am sorry."

Indy followed the police back down the stairs as Collins defended his position. "Goodbye, Chief. I hope we won't have to go through this again anytime soon," he said.

As they left, Indy went into the living room where Marion was sitting on the couch with Mutt who was happily cuddled against his mother and Susan was hiding under the coffee table, holding the lamp.

"Well, that was interesting," Indy said sitting next to Marion. He held his arms open for Mutt, who looked at his mother. She nodded and Mutt crawled over to his father. Indy wrapped his arms around his son, relishing in the boy's acceptance.

"I'm not even going to ask how this happened," Marion said. "But I'm sorry I doubted you, Jones."

"The notion does stretch the imagination more than you'd expect," he replied. "It's nice to have him small though."

"It would be nicer if we were both twenty years younger," Marion joked.

"Come here, Susan," Indy said to the little blonde hiding under the table. Reluctantly, the child crawled out but refused to look up at Indy. He picked her up to sit next to him and Marion on the couch. She flinched as he picked her up to sit on the sofa between Marion and himself. She tucked into a ball and covered her head with her tiny arms.

"I'm sorry," she said, crying pitifully. "No hit me, please?"

Marion pulled the child onto her lap. "No, we aren't going to hit you, Susan," she said, stroking the girl's hair.

"My mommy!" Mutt yelled, trying to climb back over to Marion's lap. Indy held the boy firm. "She's my mommy!"

"Mutt, let mommy take care of the little girl," Indy said gently to his son. "Stay here with Dad."

"You my daddy?" little Mutt asked, taking stock of the man's face and touching his cheek with a chubby little hand. "Just mine?"

"Yes, I'm your daddy, Mutt," Indy said, remembering that the little boy on his lap didn't have the capacity to reason as he did normally. He would have to take great care. "For right now, though, you have to share with Susan. Her mommy and daddy are gone and she doesn't have anyone to take care of her."

"Are we going to be getting our sixteen year old son back anytime soon?" Marion asked.

"Depends on if Xanae comes out to undo this," Indy replied. "I dunno though. I kind of like him like this."

"Well, they do need a nap, and Susan's still unwell," Marion said. "You want to put them to bed and I'll call the doctor?"

"I'd rather keep them down here, but Mother knows best about these things," Indy joked, kissing his wife on the cheek. "I'll take them upstairs. Come on, Kids. It's naptime."

"Piggyback ride, Daddy," Mutt said, enthusiastically, wiggling to jump on Indy's back.

"All right, I'll give you a piggyback ride if you promise to lie in your bed and take a nap," Indy laughed.

"I promise, Daddy," Mutt said, laughing along with his father as they trotted up the stairs, Mutt calling out directions to go faster the whole way. Susan followed up the stairs, taking them one at a time as Marion found the phone book to telephone the doctor that Indy used when he was home.

Indy took Mutt into the guest room come nursery and dropped the little boy onto a bed as he laughed openly. "Will you be my daddy forever?" Mutt asked breathlessly.

"Yes, Son, I will," Indy said, pulling the covers over the little boy. "Nothing's ever going to change that. Now you promised to take a nap if I gave you a piggyback ride so I want you to close your eyes and lie quietly."

Mutt reached up and hugged his father, and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Night, night, Daddy."

Indy hadn't noticed that Susan had come in and climbed onto the other bed as he chatted with his son. As soon as he'd finished talking to his son and tucking him in, he moved over to the other bed. "Susan, may I have the lamp back for a little while?"

"Daddy gived it to me," the child repeated her earlier statement. "Where's Daddy?"

"Your dad's gone right now. I sent him a telegram, remember? Now please give me the lamp," Indy said. "I need to make it work. I'll give it back."

She shook her head. "I not a'pposed to show my toys Daddy gave me to nobody."

Indy felt a low growl escape his throat. "Okay, Kid. I know you're not feeling well but the only way to get it to work is to give it to me for a while."

She shook her head again. "Not gonna."

Indy tried to grab the lamp but her little knuckles were turning white trying to hold onto it. "Okay, Kid, keep the lamp and maybe after you've had a nap you'll want to share like a big kid."

Indy turned out the light and closed the door, leaving the two children to their rest. Mutt immediately opened his eyes and looked at the little girl across from him.

"You're a bad kid!" he declared. "You shoulda gave it to Daddy."

"I know," Susan replied, pulling the blanket over her head.

The answer didn't seem to please Mutt at all. How were you supposed to argue if the other person agreed? "Stupid girls," he grumbled, deciding that he'd take the lamp for his daddy when she went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Note and Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I just play in the sandbox. There's a fair bit of focus on Susan but I think it work for the story purpose and there's still plenty of Indy and Mutt for everyone to love. I want to thank all the people who have read the story and commented. I was hugely surprised by the number of International Visitors and I thank you all for giving my story a read. Enjoy this next chapter.**

* * *

Indy flopped onto the couch as Marion finished on the telephone. He absolutely loved putting his son down for a nap and compared to Mutt's normal teenage self, this little version of his son was absolutely the most wonderful child on the planet. Of course, he had to admit to a little bit of bias on the matter but he was still filled with the warmth of his child hugging and kissing him openly and wanting him to be around forever. It was almost enough to make him want to forget asking the djinn to change him back but he knew that it wouldn't be fair to Mutt to expect him to grow up all over again.

"The doctor will be here as soon as he can which should give you some time to tell me what the hell happened," Marion said, breaking Indy from his reverie.

Indy patted the spot on the sofa next to him. "Sit down, Honey and I'll do my best to explain what's happened," Indy said.

After twenty minutes, Marion looked as shocked and awed as any human likely could. Her mind rebelled against the incredulous nature of what her husband told her but the truth of the matter was impossible to ignore, particularly as she had a pair of toddlers in place of teenagers.

"Well, get it to put them back to normal," Marion said, expectantly. "They can't stay little."

"Once I get the lamp back, I'll talk to her about undoing it," Indy said. "But right now, Susan won't let it go. We could definitely use her back to her reasonable elder self."

There was a patter of tiny feet on the stairs as Mutt came charging down the stairs, lamp in hand, and dove onto his father's lap. He supposed it was a good thing that he and Marion weren't planning on having more children because Indy grunted as his son's knee connected with his crotch.

"I taked it for you, Daddy," Mutt said triumphantly handing his father the lamp.

"Good job," Indy said ruffling his son's hair.

"No it is not!" Marion scolded her husband. She then looked at Mutt. "You know that you're not supposed to take things that don't belong to you."

"But Daddy needed it an' she wasn't sharing like a good kid," Mutt defended himself.

"Your mom's right, Son," Indy replied. "Even though I know you meant well, taking the lamp without permission was wrong. You can apologize to Susan later."

"Am I in trouble?" Mutt asked his eyes wide with worry. "I'm sorry, Daddy."

Indy hugged his sweet little boy. "No, Son. You're not in trouble. You made a mistake and one that's easily fixed."

"Jones, we need to have a word in the hall," Marion said, taking their son from his father's lap. "Stay here, Sweetheart."

They went into the hall and Indy gave Marion his best innocent look, "What? He knew I needed the lamp and did what he thought was best. It showed ingenuity and honestly, she's an incorrigible…"

There was a small popping noise and Xanae appeared on the steps. "And I thought the trolls were hateful to their young."

"She's not ours," Indy replied. "Can you put them back to right?"

"I'm perfectly capable of it, Bone Bag," she said, doing a little hopscotch move on one of the steps. "But not right now."

"Why not?" Marion demanded. "They can't remain toddlers."

The djinn leaned on the bottom railing of the banister and swung her feet beneath her. "Can we talk woman to elemental?" she asked Marion. "I have a little problem removing the glamour at the moment. There's a wish interfering with my ability to perform another."

"We didn't wish for anything," Indy said defensively.

"I'm not talking to you at the moment," Xanae said as she returned her attention to Marion. "After he failed to wrest the lamp from the little female and she laid hiding under a blanket from the world, a wish flooded my home that rests deep in her. A wish made that, even as her older self; is her deepest desire. It is one I can neither grant nor ignore and as such, I am unable to perform any more wish magic."

"What did the child wish for?" Marion asked softly. She already had a fair idea but there was no sense in assuming.

"She desires to be loved," Xanae replied.

"I'm sure her parents love her," Indy growled.

"Do you think I'd be having this problem if that were true, Genius?" the tiny djinn snapped as her hair flared in irritation. "Tolerance is not love."

"Poor thing," Marion sighed.

"Maybe if she wasn't so contrary and unpleasant," Indy said but didn't get to finish as his wife smacked him in the head.

"He's not terribly bright, is he?" Xanae asked Marion. "I can't force someone to love her so it has to be your job to find someone for her."

"You've granted wishes already," Indy said. "What's so hard about this one?"

"I can't alter free will. I can change actions, change people's fortunes and history but it must be mutually agreed," she said, flipping around the banister railing.

"What about us?" Marion asked.

"She's not our kid, Marion. This isn't like getting a dog," Indy argued. "I'm happy with having Mutt. I don't really want him around a sullen, disobedient, unlovable…"

"Pity isn't enough, Lady, and he's not agreeable to it," Xanae explained. "So, as you see, we're at a stalemate."

There was a sniff from the top of the stairs as Susan stood crying silently. She'd wanted to get her lamp back but couldn't help hear what the big man said about her. She retreated back into the room and closed the door as Marion shot Indy a scorching angry look.

"Very nice, Jones," Marion said, rushing up the stairs as the doorbell rang. "Get the damn door."

Marion walked into the guest room come nursery where she found Susan sitting facing the corner bawling pitifully. She picked up the little girl and moved over to the rocking chair where she cuddled her.

"No one wants me," she whimpered between bouts of tears. "Not mommy, not daddy, not nobody. I a'pposed to be 'lone f'rever. I sorry I a bad kid."

It was a hard concept for Marion to hear such a small child verbalize as she shushed her. "That's not true, Susan. We want you to stay here. Doctor Jones said some thoughtless things but he didn't really mean them," she soothed as the child buried her head in Marion's neck and sobbed until it dissolved into hiccups. She patted her back until she was again quiet and pulled her away to wipe her face with a tissue and held it to Susan's tiny nose. "Okay, that's all done; now blow. You and Mutt didn't get much of a nap, did you?"

Susan shook her head. "No."

Mutt followed as Indy walked in with the doctor as he opened his bag and pulled out his stethoscope. Susan clutched at Marion in fear and she patted the girl's back. "It's okay. I'll stay here."

"Mrs. Jones, if you could put the child on the bed and sit with her," the doctor said before giving Susan a smile. "Hello, Susan. I hear you're sick so I'm going to help make you better, but I need your help too. Can you stick your tongue way far out for me?"

The child obliged and he stuck a depressor in her mouth to look into her throat as she gagged. Mutt moved over next to his mother and patted Susan's hand sympathetically. "Don't barf," he suggested. Indy snickered behind them.

The doctor then felt around her neck and took her temperature before looking at the injury that had brought him to the house. He knew the next part would bring about all sorts of protests so he pulled a pair of lollipops to bribe her to obedience.

"I need to give you a shot but if you hold onto this and don't thrash about, then you may keep one and give the other to your brother," he said gently.

"Okay, I try," Susan replied sweetly. She then looked up at Marion. "You stayin'?"

"Yes, Sweetie, I'm staying right here," Marion answered, stroking the little blonde head. "You can squeeze my hand when the doctor gives you the shot and it'll be over quick."

"Okay," Susan replied taking Marion's hand and holding it while she closed her eyes tight. The doctor made short work of giving the offending shot and before she could flinch involuntarily, he was finished. The little girl gave him a smile. "That didn't hurt."

"You're a brave little girl," he said giving her a pat on the head as Mutt climbed onto the bed with Susan. "I'm all done now so you can have a nap while I talk to your folks."

"I'll take care of her," Mutt said to his mother as she looked a little reluctant to leave.

"Be nice," she warned as she left with the doctor and Indy closing the door. The doctor put away his stethoscope and closed his bag. "Is it an infection?"

"Her throat is raw and to be honest, I wouldn't expect a child that age to have tonsils in that poor a condition. I would suggest they come out as soon as she's finished a course of antibiotics. I'll call the hospital pharmacy and have them fill a prescription for penicillin and a liquid fever reducer with analgesic. Try to keep her in bed as much as possible until the fever has come down. She should have lots of liquids even though she may not want to eat much."

"Could this illness be causing her to behave badly?" Indy asked as Marion glared at him.

The doctor chuckled. "It's possible. Even adults get out of sorts when ill and a child of that tender age doesn't have the vocabulary to tell us what is wrong so they find other ways to show their displeasure: crying, whining, clinging, and any number of behaviors that adults wouldn't otherwise tolerate. Given a few days, I'd say she'll probably be fine but those tonsils really need to come out or you'll battle a chronic condition."

"Thank you, Doctor," Marion said. "I'll make sure she gets enough rest and takes the medicine until she's feeling better."

"Just stop by the hospital pharmacy in about an hour and they'll have what you need," the doctor said putting his hat on and heading out the door.

Marion went back up to the nursery where Mutt was sitting on the bed with Susan, who had cuddled underneath the blankets and each, had a lollipop in hand and Mutt was pretending to read a book to her. He looked up when Marion came in.

"I tucked her in, Mommy," he said as she took the as yet uneaten candy and put it on the bedside table. "An' I was readin' her a story."

"I see that, Sweetheart," she said, picking him up. "I think we should let Susan take a nap now and you can play downstairs."

"Can I give her a night-night kiss?" Mutt asked, wiggling out of his mother's arms. He planted a kiss on the girl's forehead before walking out with his mother.

"That was very sweet of you, Honey," Marion said, picking him up again.

"Mommy?" he said, playing with his mother's necklace. "Am I still your favorite kid?"

"You're not jealous, are you?" she asked, hugging him. "Mutt, you are the most special little boy in the world to me and I love you more than life itself. Right now, Susan doesn't have anyone to take care of her and as you heard the doctor; she's a very sick little girl."

"Why don't her big people come an' get her? Then it just you and me and daddy. We invite Ox too," he reasoned. "Is it 'cause she's a bad kid?"

Marion sat on the steps with Mutt. "Honey, not every kid is as lucky as you to have grown ups that love and care for them," she explained carefully. "Susan isn't a bad kid. She's been hurt and she's angry; there's a big difference. How would you feel if no one ever said nice things to you or told you that you were a good boy or that they were proud of you?"

"I'd be mad," Mutt agreed. "Issat why she don't share?"

"I think so, Honey. It's the only way she can show that her feelings are hurt and she doesn't know how to trust people. We have to teach Suzy that she's a good kid and she should have lots of love and people to care about her. That's why I need you to be a big boy and help me gain her trust and have her feel safe. Can you do that with me?"

Mutt nodded. "I will, Mommy. Daddy help too?"

"Yeah, I'll help too," Indy said from the bottom of the stairs, looking properly contrite after hearing Marion's explanation. He somehow wondered if his son was being more mature about the situation than he was. "Let's go outside and you can play a while."

"Can we go to the playground?" Mutt asked jumping down the stairs into his father's arms. Indy swung him around and was rewarded with plenty of giggles.

"Sure, we can," Indy replied.

Marion stood and walked down the stairs. "Don't forget you need to stop and get Susan's medicine at the hospital," she said. "Make sure you two are back by dinner."

"Come on, Son," Indy said flipping his son upside down and tickling him. "We'll go to the hospital and then stop at the playground."

Indy plopped his son into the passenger side of the car and started up though he saw his son eyeing the motorcycle with a longing that must have been something he felt from his older self.

"When you're bigger, Kiddo," Indy chuckled. He wondered if he'd known he could have gotten into just as much difficulty staying home, why he'd bothered running to Egypt and India to find it.

The entire drive to the hospital, Indy was treated to Mutt's driving sound effects complete with squealing tires as they turned corners and pretend honking at passing cars. He knew Marion would kill him if she knew that Mutt rode in the front seat the whole way but it was a special day for both of them.

Indy and Mutt walked into the hospital and Mutt wrinkled his nose at the smell. He didn't like hospital smells, he decided as he looked around at the boring white walls and people in their white costumes and funny hats. The people were all very quiet and staring at him as they walked by and Mutt looked to see if the zipper on his jeans was down.

Mutt grabbed hold of Indy's hand while he talked to the pharmacist about the various medicines that the doctor called in for the little girl. It seemed like a lot of chemicals to be sticking in a little body but he figured that she must be sicker than he realized. He grabbed hold of his son and walked out of the hospital and took a walk along Main Street toward the park. They stopped to window shop at a toy store where Indy saw the perfect tricycle for his little boy. It was bright yellow with a horn and streamers in the handle grips.

"We'll come back tomorrow when the store's open and get that for you," Indy promised.

"Really?!" Mutt exclaimed throwing his arms around his father in a hug. He then thought about the talk he'd had with his mom before they'd left. "Suzy get a toy too? Mommy said Suzy doesn't have her own big people so we hafta do it. I can be the big brother."

Indy didn't bother to point out to his son that he and Suzy were the same age but his heart swelled with pride at his son's compassion for others. "I suppose we can, Son. What do you think we should get her?"

Mutt looked carefully in the window and peered at the merchandise carefully before pointing up to a large stuffed Snoopy on the top shelf of the stuffed animals. "That one, Daddy."

"All right, we'll come tomorrow," Indy said. "We best get going to the park before it gets much later or your mom will skin me alive."

A light came on in the shop and an old man shuffled in and waved at the man and his son looking in the window. Indy waved back as they started to walk away. The old man opened the door and offered them entry.

"I'm not allowed to do business because of the blue laws, but no law says that I can not have people in while I clean up my shop," he said. "Mort Goldstein."

"Henry Jones and my son Junior," Indy said taking the man's hand and shaking it.

"The new dean at the college; my grandson goes to Marshall," the old man said, picking up some receipts from the counter. "What brings you two fine gentlemen out this way on a Sunday afternoon?"

"My daughter's ill. The doctor called some prescriptions into the hospital for her," Indy explained.

"Her tonsils 'fected," Mutt added.

"I hope she gets better soon," Mort said. "A sick child is a sad thing."

"We didn't mean to intrude," Indy said. "We were admiring the tricycle in the window. We'll be back in the morning during normal business hours."

The old man pulled down the trike from the window and motioned for Mutt to get on. "Let's see how it fits, young man," he said. "After all, you have to have one that's the right size."

Mutt sat and reached onto the pedals easily. "It fits!" he said happily.

"The tricycle is twenty five dollars if you want it today," Mort told Indy. "If the police want to arrest an old man for it, then so be it."

Indy pulled out his wallet after seeing the look of excitement on his son's face but was soon reminded of the promise he'd made to Mutt about the stuffed dog. "Would it be too presumptuous to ask how much the Snoopy is? My son wants his sister to have something to help her feel better."

"You give me thirty dollars for both," Mort replied. "And I wish you well for your little girl. I hate to have to cut things short but my wife is cooking dinner and I should be going."

Indy shook the man's hand. "Thank you," he said. "You'll have made two little ones very happy today."

"Phah," the old man said. "It's their father that made them happy. I just happened to be around at the time. Good luck."

"Thank you, Mister Mort!" Mutt said, hopping back on his newly acquired trike. "Can I ride it to the park, Daddy?"

"Sure," Indy said. "Good bye, Mort."

The old man watched as the man and his son left and continued their trip down the street. Indy took his son on to the park and he watched as his son went on the swings and slide, climbed the monkey bars and rode his tricycle until he was exhausted. By the time they returned to the house, dinner had been done for nearly forty five minutes and Marion was looking every bit the irritated wife. "I said before dinner, Jones," she said. "Not whenever you felt like showing up. Where's Susan's medicine? She's needed it."

"Sorry, Honey," Indy said, kissing her cheek and putting his sleeping son on the couch. "We got a little distracted with Mutt's new wheels. He also wanted to get the stuffed dog for Susan. Are you sure we can't keep him like this?"

"Henry Jones!" Marion scolded. "We may not get a choice for a while so don't you go spoiling him."

"The kids need toys!" Indy said innocently. "I think I'll wait for him to wake up to take the toy to Susan. It was his idea, after all, and I think she'd like it coming from him."

"You're going to make this as impossible as you can, aren't you?" Marion said. "Wake your son for dinner and get him to wash his hands."

Indy shook his son carefully to wake him. "Hey, Buddy, it's time for dinner. Let's get you washed up."

Mutt grumbled a little rubbing his eyes and sitting up. "Where's my trike?" he asked.

"It's out in the yard. You can get it later," Indy said lifting him and carrying him into the bathroom.

"Daddy, I hafta go potty," Mutt said, fumbling with the button on his jeans getting frustrated, "but I can't get this."

Indy unbuttoned and unzipped the little boy's pants so that he could take care of his needs. "Do you need me to stay?" Indy asked.

"No, I get it," Mutt said, standing at the potty like he saw big kids doing. He wasn't sure how the bigger kids were able to stand so far away. He finally finished his business and was able to get his pants up without difficulty but buttoning them up was not going to happen. After a rather sloppy attempt at washing his hands, Mutt was at the table and pulled on his father's sleeve. Indy looked down and noticed his son's disheveled appearance. He zipped and buttoned his son's pants up and lifted him into his chair while Marion served the chicken and vegetables.

"Where's Suzy?" Mutt asked as his mother checked his hands. "She not has dinner wif us?"

"Oh, I nearly forgot about her. She's been napping," Marion said. "Honey, would you bring her down? She might not eat much but she should at least sit with us."

Indy stood and went up to the new bedroom for the little ones and shook the little girl carefully to wake her. "Susan," he whispered. "It's time for dinner."

The glassy blue eyes peered up and looked fearfully at him. Why did he keep making this child afraid of him? He silently cursed himself and picked her up as she stiffened in his grasp. Marion had changed her into one of teenage Mutt's t-shirts to sleep in. They would have to take the kids out to get clothes in the morning depending on how Susan was feeling.

"How do you feel, Susan?" he asked softly as he put a hand on her head. She wasn't as feverish as she had been but still warm. "It's time to eat dinner, Kiddo."

He carried her down to the dinner table and sat her across from Mutt and Marion placed a plate in front of her with some small bites of chicken cut up with a spoonful of potatoes and some corn. "Thank you," Susan said quietly.

"Try to eat a little bit, okay, Sweetie?" Marion said. "Mutt, I want you to sit up and eat well for us too, okay?"

"I'll eat it all up, Mommy," he said compliantly picking up his fork and stabbing some chicken. He noticed that Susan didn't look all that interested in her food and decided to exercise his 'big brother' tactics. "Suzy, if you eat up your dinner then I'll show you your s'prise after dinner."

Indy hid a grin as he exchanged glances with Marion. He just marveled at how sweet and adorable his son was. He really loved watching the boy interact with people and was grateful for the chance to see him as such a small kid. God, he wished he'd gotten to raise him with Marion from the beginning. He looked over at Susan who seemed to be trying to eat with some difficulty.

"Does your throat hurt?" he asked. She nodded silently. "Try some of the potatoes. They will probably go down easier.

Susan picked at the potatoes and did seem to get them down easier though the chicken and corn was left largely untouched. "I sorry," Susan said to Mutt. "I can't eat it."

Indy smiled slightly. "Well, I think she gave it a good try, don't you, Mutt?" he asked as his son nodded in agreement. "Why don't you take Susan into the living room and show her the surprise and you two can play for a little while before bed."

"Okay, Daddy," Mutt said wiping his mouth with a napkin though Marion took it from him and gave him a more thorough cleaning up before doing the same with Susan. Mutt walked over and took Susan's hand. "C'mon, Suzy, you'll like it."

Indy cleared the table while Marion put away the leftovers and they cleaned the kitchen together.

"I'm going to try, Marion," Indy said. "I can't promise that it'll work but for all our sakes, I will do my best to learn to love the child."

"You'll be happy you did, Honey," she replied. "Let's go see what the kids are up to."

They stepped into the doorway of the living room as Mutt had Susan sit up on the couch and close her eyes while he pulled out her stuffed Snoopy.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now!" he declared handing her the dog as she squealed in delight.

"For me? Really?!" she said hugging the toy and then hugging Mutt. "Thank you! What do I hafta do for it?"

"No, it's yours forever an' ever," Mutt said. "Yours just 'cause you're a good kid. I'm sorry I said you was a bad kid 'fore. I din't mean it."

Marion squeezed Indy's hand. "Do you think that means what I think that means? Indy if someone forced the child to do things for her toys and the only one she mentioned was… it just can't be."

"I'm not sure but if it does, I'll track him down in China and kill him," Indy said looking dangerous and determined. "What we'd do with her once they're back to normal, I don't know but we'd figure it out. Let's let them play for a while longer yet."

Mutt was still talking to Susan nonstop. "… An' tomorrow, if you're better, I'll share my new trike wif you but we'll hafta take your temp'ature first."

"I try to be better tomorrow," Susan said yawning.

"I'll take you for Night-nights," Mutt offered, holding out his hand which Susan took carefully when they saw Indy and Marion standing in the door. Susan let go of Mutt's hand and walked over to them.

"Thank you," she said very softly.

"You're welcome, Susan," Indy said as Marion picked her up. Xanae popped up on Indy's shoulder and sat on him.

"You're not as dumb as you look, Water Sack," she said watching Marion take the kids up to bed. "Good luck with that."

"I'm gonna need it," Indy replied heading back into the kitchen.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimers, etc.: Don't own. Would like to. Very short chapter, but real life is bootin' me in the arse just now. **

* * *

Mutt woke up just as the sun started peeking through the curtains of the room he was sharing with Susan at the moment and he looked over to see if his "little sister" was awake yet. He always woke up too early when Mommy put him to bed early. After he pulled open one of Susan's eyes, she smiled just a little bit as she held onto the stuffed animal he'd given her for dear life. Mutt put his hand on her forehead as he'd seen his mommy do countless times. She was sweaty but she wasn't hot any more.

"You feelin' better?" Mutt asked bouncing on her bed. "If Mommy says you can, we'll play outside an' I'll let you ride my trike. You can ride onna back when we go to school."

"I'm okay but my tummy's hungry," Susan answered.

"That's 'cause you din't eat dinner last night," Mutt deduced. "I'll get Mommy."

"No, that's okay," Susan replied. "Mommies get mad if you wake them up 'fore they're ready."

"Not mine!" Mutt defended. "My mommy never gets mad like that. C'mon, I'll show you."

Mutt took the little girl's hand and practically dragged her toward his parents' room where they were sleeping soundly. He left Susan at the door as he walked quietly up to his mother's side of the bed and patted her on the arm.

"Hreump?" was the muffled and unintelligible noise that escaped Marion's lips as she opened one bleary eye at her son. It took her a moment to remember that her son was no longer the independent young man he was but now again a small boy who relied on her for everything in his existence.

"Mommy, you awake?" Mutt asked quietly.

"I am now, Sweetie," Marion replied. "Is anything the matter?"

"Nuffin," Mutt said, "But we woke up and Suzy's better an' she's hungry. She din't wanna tell you 'cause she din't want you to be mad."

Indy started awake when he heard his son's voice. "Huh? What's wrong?" he asked rubbing his eyes.

"Nothing's wrong, dear," Marion replied. "The kids are awake."

"Hey, Buddy," Indy said, motioning his son over to his side of the bed. Mutt went over and stared at his father closely. "It's still early yet. Snuggle in with Mommy and me."

Mutt giggled as Indy lifted him into the bed between him and his wife. "But Daddy, Suzy needs food. She din't eat much dinner 'cause she wasn't feelin' good."

"Where is Susan?" Indy asked looking around as he spied the little blonde peeking around the doorway as she backed away at being seen. He sighed realizing that it was unlikely that she was used to any such familiarity and admittedly, his behavior hadn't been very encouraging for a shy, frightened child. "It's all right, Susan. You can come in."

The little girl stepped in carefully and approached the end of the bed where Marion reached down and scooped the little girl onto the bed with the rest of the family. Susan snuggled into Marion's arms with her Snoopy in tow. "Hi," she said, shyly as her stomach growled loudly.

"That does sound like a belly that's ready for breakfast," Marion said hugging her. "What would you like to have to eat?"

Susan shrugged. "Anything is okay," she replied. "I like oatmeal with cimmanin."

Indy looked confused before Marion translated for him, "You mean cinnamon, Sweetie. All right; oatmeal with cinnamon it is then."

Marion dragged herself out of bed and threw on her robe to make breakfast for the strange little family while Indy tucked the kids under the covers for a little while longer. He had a full day ahead with classes and the inevitable bevy of appointments.

"Hey, Daddy," Mutt said, cuddled into his father's chest. "I'm still goin' to school today?"

Indy groaned. With everything else that had happened; he'd forgotten about Mutt starting school. He obviously couldn't go in his current condition. He'd have to call the school and tell them that his son was unable to attend for the foreseeable future. "No, not today, Kiddo," Indy said. "You're still too little."

"I'm a big kid!" Mutt declared. "I taked care of Suzy an' everything."

"I know you did but when little kids go to high school; it makes the bigger kids nervous," Indy chuckled. "Besides, I think Mommy needs to take you both to get clothes and shoes."

"Aw Man… Shopping's for girls!" Mutt groaned. "What are you goin' to do?"

"I have to go to work, Son," Indy said. "You stay here and play with Susan and Mommy and I'll be home later."

Mutt's face fell when his father said that he had to leave. "But… I wanted to…" the boy began, tears welling up in his eyes. "We had fun yesterday an' I wanted to play with you again today. Can't you stay, Daddy?"

"Wish I could but the college will get mad if I stay away," Indy said. "I promise that we can play together when I get home, any game you want."

"Really?" Mutt sniffed. "You promise?"

"Yeah, Kid, I promise," Indy said, cuddling his little boy. He noticed that Susan had been very quiet and he looked over to see her sleeping on Marion's pillow and he chuckled. "Did you wake Susan up this morning, Mutt?"

"Nuh-uh, not really," Mutt said. "I only opened one of her eyes to see if she was awake. I couldn't sleep no more and was lonely. She smiled so I thought it was okay."

Indy sat up and grabbed his son up in his arms, laughing. "You're too funny, Kid," he said. "I guess you'll need a later bedtime to keep from getting up at the crack of dawn."

"I cracked it?" Mutt asked worried which caused his father to laugh even more.

"C'mon," Indy said. "Let's get you cleaned up and ready for breakfast. We'll let Susan sleep a little bit longer."

"Daddy," Mutt started as Indy dropped him on the countertop in the bathroom and wetting a washcloth. "I had a funny sort of dream last night about being big and riding the big bike in the garage."

"Did you really?" Indy said, wiping the boy's face. "Was it a fun dream?"

"Some of it, but not all of it," Mutt continued. "I dreamed that me an' Suzy were running away. The riding on the bike part was okay, but it was scary 'cause they had guns. You made them go 'way though."

Indy kissed the boy's head. "I'll always make the bad guys go away, Kid. I promise you that. Let's go harass Mommy about breakfast."

He picked his son up and swooped him around the room like an airplane. He then headed down the stairs and deposited the boy into a chair. He then wrapped his arms around Marion's waist and kissed her neck. "Good morning," he said. "We have one kid down and one to go. Susan zonked out on your side of the bed."

"Go get her so she can have some breakfast," Marion said as she turned around and returned his kiss. Mutt made some kind of gagging sound from his place at the table.

"One day, Kid, you won't object so much," Indy laughed heading back up the stairs. Marion set a bowl of oatmeal in front of Mutt and tied a dish towel around him just for safety.

"Mommy, I'm not that messy," Mutt complained, stirring the oatmeal around and taking a spoonful which promptly dribbled down the towel.

"We need to go out today," Marion replied. "Please just eat your breakfast and don't make a fuss."

Upstairs, Indy gently shook Susan to wake her up.

"It's time to eat," he said, pulling the covers from around her. "Marion is going to take you and Mutt to get new clothes today after you eat."

"Where'd the little lady go?" Susan asked, blearily. "May I have my lamp back?"

"I don't know where she went, Susan," Indy replied. "Your lamp is put away safe so that it doesn't get taken by the bad people who were here before. We don't want any more trouble from the likes of them, do we?"

"I bringed trouble?" she asked, her eyes wide with fear. "I sorry."

"No, it wasn't you, Kiddo," Indy said, washing her face with a warm cloth. "Don't worry about it. Let's go have breakfast and I promise I'll let you play with your lamp tonight when I'm home from work."

"Okay," Susan replied, remembering to grab her stuffed animal from the bed as they went downstairs. She sat Snoopy on the counter so he wouldn't get messy from breakfast but he could watch from a safe distance.

Before they were finished, Indy looked at his watch and stood up. "I'm running late," he said, kissing his wife on the cheek and ruffling his son's hair before giving Susan a pat on the shoulder. "See you guys tonight. Don't give Mommy a rough time, Mutt."

"All right," Marion said. "Who wants to have a bath first?"

"Not me!" Mutt announced as he played with his food, obviously finished but not wanting to give it up to get _clean_ of all things.

"I have a baf?" Susan asked. She seemed uncertain but knew that Marion wouldn't hurt her. She hadn't so far, after all. "Can I have warm?"

"Of course you can, Sweetie," Marion replied. "If you are all done eating, you can have your bath first. Mutt, you may be second but you WILL have a bath this morning."

Mutt groaned as he watched his mother and Susan leave for the bathroom. Indy left the back door open and the enticement was too great to ignore. Mutt padded out to the yard where his tricycle was waiting for him to ride it. He knew that he couldn't take it far but surely just a little trip wouldn't hurt. Maybe he could just go the front sidewalk and that would be all right. Mutt climbed aboard his newly acquired wheels and started to the front of the house. The neighborhood was fairly quiet and he decided that Mommy would be busy with Susan for a while yet, so just going to the corner wouldn't be too bad. He'd be back before anyone could even miss him.

Before he got as far as the corner, Mutt noticed that a big black car pulled up back at the house and some men ran out and rushed inside. He pulled his trike into some bushes and watched as Marion was dragged out, carrying Susan who was wrapped in a towel. Panic took over his little body as he decided that he had to find Daddy so that he could make the men go away. His feet took off on the pedals going as fast as his tiny legs could manage until he found himself stopping in front of a beat cop.

"Where'd you come from, Little Sir?" the officer asked kneeling down in front of the crying boy.

"I hafta find Daddy!" Mutt wailed. "Some men got into the house and they took Mommy and Suzy. Please help me!"

"Okay, Son," the policeman said. "What's your daddy's name and where do you live?"

"Daddy is Henry Jones and I don't know my address yet. We just lived there since last week," Mutt said, his voice dissolving into distressed sobs. "Daddy went to work at the college today. I hafta go get Daddy!"

"All right, calm down," he replied. "We're going to go to the police station and I'll call your father."

The boy was hardly any calmer by the time they reached the station and the officer was able to get a hold of Indy, who was a little irritated at being pulled out of class because his son decided to get lost on his tricycle. When he reached the station, however, Mutt threw himself into his father's arms and bawled out his story in a long rambling tirade which made little sense.

Indy gathered the boy into his arms and sat him on his knee. "Slow down, Kiddo, now why weren't you in the house with Mommy?"

"My bike wanted me to take it for a ride," Mutt hiccupped. "An' before I could get back, the bad men came and they took Mommy an' Suzy. I couldn't 'tect them, Daddy. I was tryin' to find you but I couldn't."

"That's okay, Mutt," Indy soothed. "You found a policeman and got me and that's a good thing. We'll talk about you leaving and not telling Mommy later."

"Doctor Jones," one of the policemen said. "The house appears to have been ransacked and your wife and daughter aren't there. We should get you home, at least, in the event there's a ransom request. Officers will be with you in your home."

The house was in shambles. Indy knew what they were looking for, and knew that they wouldn't find it so easily. He sent Mutt up to his room to get dressed while he straightened up the living room. Xanae popped out and looked around.

"Who sent a hurricane through here?" she asked the doctor as he scowled at her.

"Those people who want you," he growled. "And they took Marion and Susan to boot."

"So what are you going to do to get them back?" she asked, innocently.

"I'd give 'em what they wanted if I didn't think they'd destroy the planet with you," he said. "As soon as they contact me, I'll decide what to do next. I need to find someone to look after Mutt though."

"No, Daddy," Mutt said from the stairs. "I wanna go wif you."

"You can't, Son," Indy said. "It's too dangerous."

"I don' care!" Mutt yelled. "I wanna save Mommy!"

"Mutt, you're too little and you're not going," Indy said firmly. He understood that the teenage Mutt was very close to his mother and would do anything to keep her safe, but in his current condition, there was no way that Junior was getting anywhere near this adventure.

"He might be a useful little runt," Xanae mused.

"No," Indy replied. "My son is not going to be in harm's way. My only concern is getting Marion and Susan back. Can't you do anything about it?

"Let's see what we can come up with," Xanae mused.

--

Marion beat on the steel door of the room where she and Susan were being held hostage. Susan had nothing but a towel on and the cold was starting to make the child shiver for all she was worth. Marion kept the child in her arms to share her body heat with the little girl, but it wasn't going to work as a long term solution. "You can't keep us in here, you sons of bitches! At least give me some clothes for her. She's sick!"

"Calm down, Mrs. Jones," a voice came in the room over an intercom. "If all goes to plan, you and little Miss March will be released soon."

"We're Joneses and my little girl is desperately ill," Marion insisted. "If I don't get her warmed up and some medicine in her soon, she could easily develop pneumonia and die. She's just a baby!"

The intercom shut off but a moment later, a flap in the bottom of the door opened and a tray was pushed through with clothes and a child's fever reducer on it. "Now be quiet," the voice came over the intercom again. "Your husband should cooperate and you'll be playing house again soon."

"I don't feel good," Susan croaked as she clung to Marion. "I scared."

"I know, Baby, but you wait. Indy will come for us," Marion soothed as she dressed the little girl in the provided jumpsuit. "You'll be home playing with Snoopy again soon."


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER: Do not own. Getting Chapters in as I have time/'net access.**

Indiana Jones walked through the door of the empty hangar where his wife and Susan were being held. He saw Marion next to Collins who had a gun trained on her.

"Put the lamp on the floor and back away, Doctor Jones," Collins said. "I'll release her when I have the lamp in my possession."

"Where's Susan?" Indy demanded.

"What concern is she to you?" Collins sneered. "You're not her father. She's of no use to you but to the agency she will be a valuable asset."

"She's a child not a tool," Marion growled at him. "And she's sick. Take the lamp and be damned but give us Susan."

"We'll see," Collins said, pushing her toward the lamp. "Pick it up and bring it to me, Mrs. Jones."

Marion hesitated for a moment before picking it up. She hadn't expected an oil lamp made from thin hammered metal to be so heavy but she took it back to him but did not hand it over immediately.

"Give us Susan," Marion said. "She's just a little girl."

Collins nodded to someone in the dark who opened a door and Susan came running out and latched onto Marion. "I sorry," Susan whispered.

"Give her the lamp and instruct her to give it to me," he demanded. Marion handed Susan the lamp and she held onto it tightly. Collins raised his gun to Marion's head. "Give it to me and I'll let you go with them. If you don't, I'll kill her."

"No," Susan cried. "No hurt anymore peoples. I give it to you."

"Go," Collins ordered Marion.

Perhaps it was fortunate that Collins and his men were so preoccupied with Marion and Susan that he didn't see Indiana making his way to the shadows of the hangar. He took a running start for his wife and grabbed her out of harm's way but missed Susan in his grab.

"Jones!" Marion yelped. "Where's Mutt?"

"Safe," Indy replied. "I came to make sure that you and she are too."

The lamp began to smoke in Susan's hand as the Djinn erupted from the tip, her voice booming through the room as she stood some fifteen feet high.

"Wow," Susan said looking up at the Djinn. "I hafta give you to him now or he hurts the big people. I sorry."

Susan handed over the lamp to Collins who sneered with delight. "Genie, I am your master now," he said. "Kill them."

"Now why would I do that?" Xanae asked, strutting around in a floating position. "I have nothing against them. You, on the other hand, have been a royal pain in the ass."

"I'm ordering you to kill them," Collins said. "Do as I wish."

"No," Xanae replied. "I'm not yours to command. Did you really think you could simply demand my obedience? It works not that way."

"I have the lamp. You are mine to control," he said, getting red in the face.

"To believe that my power is contained by a cheap oil lamp is moronic," Xanae said. "The house has no importance."

From the shadows, Indy called out to Susan. "Over here. Come to us, Susan. We'll get out of here now."

Susan made a run for where the Joneses were. Even if she was alone now, she would at least be safe with them. "I comin'," she yelled as her feet slipped on the floor. "Don' leave me."

"We're not leaving you, Baby," Marion said. "Just come to us."

Susan stumbled before falling into Indy's arms. Marion screamed in alarm as blood began to spread out over Susan's chest as a bullet tore through her body. He cradled her in his arms as he tried to put pressure on the wound but blood was seeping through his fingers too quickly.

"God, No," Indy said, tears coming to his eyes unbidden.

Susan's eyes became reminiscent of her elder self for a brief moment. She smiled as she wheezed, "Thank you. I wish… I wish…"

"Hush, Susan. We'll get a doctor and you'll be fine," Marion said, desperately.

"I wish I could make things right," she said finally before her eyes rolled back in her head and her hand relaxed and the lamp fell from it.

Indy looked over at Xanae who had grown to a frightening height and had Collins in a field of arcing blue electrical bolts that were shooting through his body. His eyes popped out of their sockets, the vitreous fluid burning on his cheeks as he screamed. His skin blackened as he fried and when the last sparks died down, he was little more than a charred skeleton.

"Xanae, can you do anything?" Indy asked.

"Of course I can. I am my mistress' guardian as much as she is mine," Xanae said, sending gentler waves of blue smoke through the bullet wound, knitting it up. Susan moaned as the wound healed. "My mistress will live but her body needs time to recuperate."

"Were you serious about being bound to her soul?" Marion asked.

"Sort of," Xanae said. "Her father sent her the pieces to see if she could unravel the puzzle. The final experiment, I guess."

"What experiment?" Indy asked.

"Later, Jones, we have to get out of here," Marion said.

Indy and Marion returned home with the two young children; Mutt sat between his parents in the car clinging to his mother. Susan lay in the back seat, still unconscious and burning with fever. Marion grabbed the thermometer and took her temperature.

"One hundred and four," Marion exclaimed. "Get her into the tub. I'll get ice."

Indy carried her up to the bathroom and ran the tub full of cold water. He carefully immersed her in the water, keeping her head from going under.

"Cold," she complained through her fevered delirium.

"I know," he said gently. "But this will help you."

Indy and Marion spend the next hour swapping turns holding the little girl in the icy water. Mutt watched from the doorway of the bathroom, holding Susan's stuffed dog.

"Daddy, is Suzy gonna die?" he asked during one of their swaps.

Indy picked his little boy up and set him on his knee as he sat on the stairs outside of the bathroom. "No, Suzy's not going to die, Son," he said gently. "Mommy and I are going to make sure she gets better."

"Her fever's down," Marion said. "She's going to be okay now, Mutt. Go play downstairs in the living room and we'll be down in a few minutes, okay?"

Indy wrapped Susan up in a towel and took her into the nursery where he sat rocking her while she slept easily. Finally, Marion tapped him on the shoulder and started him out of his reverie. "You should put her to bed, Jones," she said quietly. "She'll probably sleep through the night now."

Indy nodded as he put the child in her bed. "It's been one hell of a day, Kid, but you're back and we'll keep you safe."


	6. Chapter 6

Once he put Susan in her bed, Indy went down to the living room where Mutt was snuggled next to his mother; not yet ready to let her out of his sight. He sat down on the other side of Mutt and put his arm around Marion's shoulders. Once they were all very comfortable on the sofa, Indy looked down at his young son.

"We need to have a talk about your disappearing act this morning, young man," Indy said, resting his free hand on Mutt's head. "With everything that's happened, we didn't addressed your leaving by yourself. I think you know that was naughty."

Mutt nodded. "I shoulda stayed to 'tect Mommy and Sue."

"You aren't ever to go off on your own without Mommy or me knowing where you are again," Indy said. "Otherwise, you'll be punished and then no one will be happy."

"I won't leave 'gain, Daddy," Mutt promised moving over onto his father's lap. "It was too scary."

"Good, I'm glad you've learned your lesson," Indy said. He looked over at his wife whose eyes were closed and she looked exhausted. He quietly moved his son off the couch and put Marion's feet up and covered her with a blanket. "Let's go find something for dinner. I'm starvin'."

"Me too," Mutt agreed. "What about Mom an' Sue? She didn't have dinner last night either."

"Don't worry, Kid," Indy said. "We won't let them starve. What do you think about getting hamburgers from the diner?"

"We can't leave Mom an Suzy alone," Mutt replied. "What if the bad men come back?"

"No more bad men are coming today," Indy replied. "I promise. Let's go get some food."

Indy picked Mutt up and took him out to the car. They drove down to the diner where Susan once worked; the sight of the brawl that started the Jones family on a path that none of them knew. Frank was in the kitchen and an older woman was working the counter. He sat Mutt on one of the spinning stools while he waited to order.

"You look pretty busy," he said once the woman whose name tag read Harriet took their order.

"Our regular girl isn't in," Harriet answered.

"Susan March, right?" Indy asked.

"Yes, that's right," the woman replied. "Do you know her?"

"She's a friend of the family," Indy told her. The cook came out of the back with their order a few minutes later.

"You know Suzy, then?" he asked. "Is she all right? She's never missed work and we haven't been able to get in touch with her. Their phone's shut off."

"She's pretty sick," Indy answered. "She hasn't been able to contact you because she's been so ill."

"She's that sick, huh?" Frank mused. He then pulled an envelope from the register. "This is her pay from last week. She says she needs money. You give this to her. You tell her when she is ready to come back, I will have work for her."

"Thanks, I'll let her know," Indy said, shoving the envelope into his pocket and covering Mutt's mouth before he gave anything away. He then gave Mutt a slow spin on the chair before paying the waitress. "Thanks. Let's go, Son."

Mutt hopped down and stumbled for a second before waving to the waitress. Once they were out of the diner, Mutt looked up at his father and asked, "Daddy, why didn't you tell them that Suzy's can't work there?"

"They wouldn't understand, Kid," Indy replied. "Some things are just too difficult to explain. Let's go home."

"But she's just a little kid," Mutt said. "Littler than me."

"You are the same age, Son," Indy said.

"Yeah, but I'm bigger than her," Mutt declared. "So I'm a big kid."

"Right," Indy replied. "You're a big kid."

They went home and woke Marion for dinner, which was a quiet affair and it took some time before Mutt was ready for sleep. Once the house was quiet, Indy put the radio on with some soft music for Marion and himself in the living room.

"May I have this dance, Mrs. Jones?" he asked, extending a hand. She rested her hand in his and nodded.

"Delighted, Doctor Jones," Marion replied. After a dance, they retired to the couch for a kiss but it was interrupted by a yawn. "I don't remember Mutt being this exhausting the first time around."

"I guess it's a matter of being younger and only having one last time," Indy said. "I'm getting used to having them both around though. It's nice to have the experience. If I'd only been able to help you the first time..."

"No use going over all that again, Jones," Marion said. "We can't turn back the clock."

"Well, we can't and the one who could can't do anything about it right now anyway," Indy replied with a grin picking her up and starting up the stairs. "Let's go to bed."

* * *

It was still dark outside when Susan woke. Mutt was sleeping in his bed and from the sounds of things; wasn't going to wake up soon. She took hold of her toy and carried him downstairs with her. Even the big people were still sleeping and she didn't want to wake them up since it was still nighttime.

There wasn't much to do when no one else was awake which left her with a lot of time to think about some very serious things. She thought about how the Joneses looked after her even though she wasn't their kid and how much trouble they went through because of the mean men. She liked Mutt, Marion and Doctor Jones. Being held and cuddled by Marion was soothing even if it was something the little girl wasn't used to. Deciding that she should to write a letter to her parents to tell them that she was going to stay with the Jones family if they let her, Susan went into the study and found a fresh piece of paper and a pencil. The whole letter would have gone much smoother if she knew how to write all of her alphabet clearly but she figured she knew enough to get her point started with a capital D since Daddy started with a D. She put in the other letters that she believed belonged and then moved on to M for Mother.

'So far; so good,' she decided.

Now to tell them she wasn't coming home. The girl composed a heartfelt letter largely comprised of the occasional word mixed in with mostly jumbled letters but it made perfect sense to her. By the time she was finished, the sun was up and she knew that it wouldn't be long before Mutt was awake to play with. He was a funny kid and she knew he would be a lot of fun to play with.

Indy went to look in on the kids and instant panic set in when he saw one of the tiny beds empty. He checked the bathroom and thankfully didn't find Susan there since, for a moment, he thought she might have tried to cool off in the bathtub. He then charged down the steps to look for any open doors and found Susan sitting at his desk. Whatever she was doing; she looked all business and completely intent on the paper she was looking over. Relief shot through his body as he sat across from her.

"What are you doing down here, Kid?" he asked. "Couldn't sleep any more?"

"I had a lot of stuff to think about," she explained seriously. "I didn't wanna wake Mutt up so I came here."

"You did, did you?" Indy replied with a smile. "What sort of stuff did you have to think about?"

"I wanna stay here wif' you an' Mutt an' Mrs. Jones. May I stay?" she asked, trying to remember her best manners. "I know I ain't a good kid but I will be. I won't get inna way an' I can help wif' stuff too." Indy picked the little girl up and sat her on his lap. She immediately stiffened in his arms and was prepared to be told that she couldn't stay when he hugged her.

"Look, Susan, I know I said some things that weren't very nice before. I'm sorry for that. You're a very good kid and I shouldn't have said you weren't. Marion and I want you to stay with us. We were really scared that you were so sick and we decided that we want you to be our little girl. You and Mutt are very special to us and we don't want to risk either one of you getting hurt again."

"So, it's okay if I stay here?" Susan asked again, sounding almost too hopeful.

"It's more than okay, Sweetheart," Indy answered as he looked down at the scribbles addressed to 'Daddy'. "What's with the paper?"

"I was writin' to Mother an' Daddy that I wanted to stay here an' I wasn't comin' back even if you said no," Susan replied. "I was gonna live in a forest by myself if I wasn't 'lowed to stay here."

Indy wondered if Susan, like Mutt, had some residual memories of her teenage self from what she said. He hugged her again. "You don't have to so don't worry about that," he said. "How long have you been down here thinking?"

"Since it was dark outside," she said. "I had a lot to think about."

"I see that," he replied, looking Susan's 'letter'. "Well, I know it's time for you to have your next dose of medicine so why don't we get that out of the way now?"

"But I'm not hot anymore," she answered. "I feel like I did 'fore."

"That doesn't mean that the germs are all gone, Susan," Indy explained, pulling the liquid penicillin out of the fridge and shaking it up. Once he got the dose into her mouth and she swallowed it; she made a face and shuddered . He gave her a drink of water to help wash away the taste. She made a face and shuddered.

"I think you were sick well before you came to stay with us and all of the stuff that happened since then didn't help. The doctor even said that he wasn't used to seeing a kid's tonsils that were as bad as yours. They might have to come out."

"How do they come out?" Susan asked.

"Well, the doctor goes in and..." he started but then realized that a detailed explanation was probably not going to help matters at this particular moment. "You know, I'm not really sure."

"But you're a doctor," Susan said, as he lifted her off the counter.

"Not a sick people doctor though," Indy answered, carrying her back upstairs and putting her in her bed. "There are different kinds."

"What kind of doctor are you?" she asked, not letting the matter go so easily.

"I'm an archeologist," he said. "That means I go to places and dig up old stuff. Now why don't you try to rest a little bit since you've had your medicine and you got all your thinking done, okay?"

"I gotta give my letter to the mailman to take," Susan remembered. "He gotta take it to Mother and Daddy."

"The mailman won't be here this early," Indy reassured her. "Tell you what, I'll take it with me and mail it later, all right?"

Susan put her tiny hand atop his. "Thank you for lettin' me stay, Doctor Jones."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Susan," Indy said, planting a kiss on her forehead. "You stay in bed now, all right? Marion will come in and take your temperature soon to see if you should be out." Xanae appeared on the banister doing a miniature gymnastics routine outside of the nursery.

"Shall I change them back? I can do so now."

"Not just yet," Indy said. "I don't know if I'm ready for two teenagers."

* * *

**Author's Note: Hi, Folks. I know I haven't updated this story in a long-assed time. The sad part is that this chapter has been written for ages. I just wasn't sure if I was satisfied with it or if I wanted to take another route and without regular internet access; writing and posting got pushed WAY down on the list of stuff to do. I apologize for being a lazy slug and hope that you enjoy this chapter. Thank you all for keeping this story on your alerts and for giving it a read. - W4F**


End file.
